If It's You and Me
by ShiroNekoIsMe
Summary: Yagami appeared at Fujiwara's doorstep in the middle of the night one day, completely drenched wet from head to toe. Fluffs and Angst and Comfort.
1. Chapter 1

**Warning: Characters might be a bit OOC since I've only watched the anime so far and haven't played the game or seen the VN etc, unbetaed so read at your own risk lol**

* * *

 **If It's You and Me**

 **Chapter 1**

The round clock on the wall struck twelve o'clock in the morning. A teenage boy was stretching his well-toned muscles on his bed, long legs spread widely into a perfect split. It became a daily routine for him before going to bed since he needed to keep his body condition in check at all times for competitions coming ahead.

Ting! Tong!

The doorbell rang, halting the boy's stretching process.

"Who is it..?" Fujiwara Takeru, a tall high school boy with smooth raven hair answered the door of his apartment to find a familiar light blond haired boy drenched from the rain standing miserably in front of him.

"...hey. Um, Fu-fujiwara..." The blond squeaked in that small voice of his, in which Fujiwara could detect a slight tremble from it.

"Yagami? What happened?" He asked, but swiftly grabbed hold of thin, wet wrist and pulled the soaked boy inside before shutting the door. Yagami Riku was his childhood friend who lived next door when Fujiwara was still staying with his family. He soon moved out after entering high school since his current apartment was closer to a park where he would practice parkour running with members of the school's Stride Club.

"Wait here. I'll go and get you a towel and some clothes to change into." The stoic bespectacled boy disappeared into his room and came out shortly after carrying with him a white towel and dry, clean clothes.

Fujiwara ungraciously dumped the towel on top of Yagami's head and began drying off his wet hair quite roughly. "What were you doing walking in the rain at this hour? Don't tell me... you ran away from home again?"

Yagami said nothing, his head hung low in dejection. Fujiwara was reminded of a stray puppy he once found by the streets while walking home from school. Yes, Yagami definitely looked like a cute little puppy he wouldn't mind taking in and tending to anytime or any day.

Too bad, owner of those large dark brown eyes wasn't as friendly towards him and only him (sadly).

They stood face to face in complete silence for a while, Fujiwara's hands moving in a regular motion to dry off the wet hair properly. Yagami unconsciously closed his eyes, secretly enjoying the dark haired boy's touch and the small rustling noises made when cotton fabric met moist hair. It sent warm and soothing sensations all over his body the blond never knew he'd welcome them before.

"It's done." Cool, low voice broke the silence between the two boys and Yagami was brought back from his reverie. "Can you change clothes? Or do you want me to do it for you too?" Fujiwara sneakily asked, pulling the other's face closer with the towel. Their faces inches away, noses almost touched, hot breaths mingled together.

Yagami instantly blushed, feeling the heat creeping up on his face, his heart almost exploded out of his chest and pushed the ravenhead away in response. "D-don't be an idiot! Of course I can change on my own..!" He immediately snatched the spare clothes from Fujiwara's hands and sped towards the bathroom before closing the door forcefully behind him.

The taller boy smirked, sea blue eyes followed the flustered boy in mirth until he disappeared into the bathroom. 'Yagami can be so cute sometimes. Makes me wanna tease him even more...'

* * *

Yagami came out later looking very dissatisfied. "Why do you have to be so muscular again...?" The pale skinned blond complained, looking down at slightly baggy clothes that fell down his shoulders. He was only shorter than the other boy by two centimeters so they should have almost the same body build but it can't be denied that he was indeed skinnier. But, not that skinny okay!

A light chuckle escaped Fujiwara's lips, thin fingers slowly removed the black rimmed glasses and sapphire eyes made contact with chocolate ones. "Hmm, isn't it because Yagami's been slacking off lately?" The Cheshire-like smile never quite left his smug face as he continued, "Ah, but I do love your muscle proportion the way they are so don't worry too much."

"Screw you." Came the snarky reply from an easily agitated brown eyed boy as he made way towards the square coffee table and slumped his head on it. His right hand subconsciously wandered to the back of his head only to realise his hairstyle was ruined. Ah, his short ponytail became undone from running in the rain just now. He let out a tired huff, smooth cheeks all puffed up.

Biting down a rubber band at one corner of his lips, Yagami languidly pulled up strands of loose hair into a short, spiky ponytail, completely unaware of the intense gaze his teammate was giving. Fujiwara couldn't take his eyes off of the oblivious boy, his gestures somehow seemed adorably erotic even though he was just tying his hair up. The black-haired teen involuntarily swallowed thickly at such mesmerizing sight.

Yagami Riku was a natural seducer, so it seemed.

"Fujiwara..?" Yagami softly called out, hair already neatly tied up.

At the mention of his name, Fujiwara snapped out of his trance and awkwardly cleared his throat as he stood up and made way to the kitchen. "I'll go and get us some drinks. Is hot chocolate okay with you?" Yagami nodded slightly, feeling remorseful for imposing on the blue eyed boy in the middle of the night. "Sorry, Fujiwara. And thank you..." His ears went red from being all honest to the other person but he simply felt the need to express his gratitude.

"Haa... if only you were this honest with yourself all the time, Riku. You're cuter that way." Fujiwara carelessly commented and quickly dodged a flying book thrown by none other than an overly red faced Yagami. 'Don't use my first name so casually now, jerk...'

 _'Riku-chan, let's play together!'_

 _'Look Riku-chan, a stag beetle!'_

 _'Hey, Riku-chan, you're crying again?'_

Yagami exhaled slowly, blinking back tears that threatened to spill from his brown eyes. "Why did you have to leave me too, Take-chan?" He whispered, reminiscing his childhood times together with Fujiwara. His parents, his brother and now Fujiwara. All of them had left him. He was all alone now. The blond brought his knees to his chest and buried his face in them.

A raven-haired boy was silently standing by the wall beside the kitchen entrance with two mugs of hot chocolate drink in hand, secretly listening to the quiet sniffles of his childhood friend. He clutched the handle of the mugs so hard until his knuckles turned white, his expression grim.

Fujiwara liked Yagami, more than a childhood friend, more than a family and more than anything. He was honestly in love with the blond. So, in order to conceal his abnormal feelings for the other boy, he left home and ultimately, Yagami behind. He thought he'd made the right choice in leaving his most precious friend before he did something stupid or regretful. But, perhaps it was the wrong decision after all?

Fixing a plastic smile, the ravenhead made his way back to the living room. "I'm back - " His sentence stopped short as sapphire eyes fell onto an unmoving figure leaning against the couch, already sleeping so soundly.

Placing the mugs down on the table, Fujiwara quietly sat beside the sleeping boy just in time for the yellow head to fall to his shoulder. His heart skipped a beat, his cheeks flushed rosy red in a flash. Hearing Yagami's soft breathing and seeing his chest rising up and down regularly strangely warmed Fujiwara's heart, filling his entire being with inexplicable bliss.

"I'm here, Riku. I won't leave you alone anymore."

Soon, two boys could be seen sitting comfortably close next to each other, the blond's head nested on the raven's shoulder, sleeping away all their worries and troubles for now.

 **To be continued...?**

* * *

 **Note: I'll continue this only of it gets good response from readers and if you want me to of course~ see you soon! :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 _Chirp! Chirp!_

Cheery birdsongs could be heard from the distance. A teen with light yellow hair stirred a little in his sleep, his body and system slowly waking up for another day. Yagami, half awake at that time, snuggled closer to the warmth enveloping him. The blanket felt weirdly rough and rigid, but the blond still felt comfortable and warm all the same. Then, he felt something tickling his nose every time he breathed. Wait, he didn't remember having a furry material for a blanket before. Unless, the thing under his nose wasn't his blanket after all..!

Wincing his eyes open, Yagami blearily stared in front of him, hands wandering all over the foreign substance in which he had mistaken as his fluffy cottony duvet seconds ago. Blurry image became clearer and more defined. Chocolate brown eyes slowly enlarged at the sight in front, mouth parted into an 'O' shape in disbelief.

A slumbering Fujiwara was hugging him so close right now, and peaceful sleeping face nuzzled close to his ample neck. Sturdy arms comfortably encircling the blond's lean waist into a tight lock, as if to prevent Yagami from running away or something.

What. In. The. Abominable. World?

"AHHHHHHHHHH?!"

The scream was deafening and capable of bursting anyone's eardrums within a five hundred-metre radius for all Yagami knew but he couldn't help it, being too shell-shocked from the rather raunchy position. _W-wh-what the hell was going on?!_

There he was, sleeping together with Fujiwara on the cramped small sofa, bodies squishing together, legs tangling on top of another. In his defense, the blond reflexively pushed the raven-haired boy away from him, effectively throwing the poor boy out of the couch and Fujiwara unceremoniously fell off with a loud thump.

"...the hell...?" Confused sapphire eyes popped open, pain suddenly attacked his body from all angles. Fujiwara winced at the throbbing pain he felt at the back of his head and surprisingly, his ears as well? Why did it felt like he was caught up in a grenade explosion just now..?

Looking up, the dark-haired teen could see a very red-faced blond trying to sink further into the sofa, shrinking away from him as best as he could.

 _Loading in progress..._

 _3..._

 _2..._

 _1..._

 _Loading completed._

Realisation dawned unto the fallen boy, who could only sigh wearily in response.

Last night, he almost doze off beside his friend and was too tired-slash-lazy to carry the sleeping blond to the bedroom so he opted for a second, in fact, better choice. To sleep on the couch for that night and act as the blanket for the shivering blond by cuddling with him. Nothing else happened.

Not yet anyway.

"Yagami-kun, it's not very polite to scream so loud in the morning and push the owner of that sofa you're sitting on to his fall, don't you think?" Fujiwara yawned sleepily afterwards, stretching his sore muscles. Ah, he should sleep properly on the bed next time. He only had himself to blame if his muscles deteriorate from the poor sleeping position.

It took a while for Yagami to move from his spot or even speak. His ragged breaths gradually subsided after a while, the wild beating of his heart slowed down into steady rhythm again. That's right. He willingly came to Fujiwara's apartment last night, having to run away from his so-called 'home'. And Fujiwara was his childhood friend for heaven's sake. He knew the blue-eyed boy long enough to know that the aloof good-looking boy wasn't one to take advantage of other people given chance.

However, Yagami's mind would automatically do the opposite of what his heart believed instead. Every single time. "N-nothing happened last night, right?" He asked, probably looking terribly frightened and very traumatized at the same time. Conceal! Don't feel! (No, he's not quoting that from Frozen dammit!) No one must know... not even Fujiwara. Especially not Fujiwara actually. He didn't want to show his weaker side to the dark haired boy if possible.

Fujiwara immediately noticed Yagami's peculiar behavior but decided to play along to ease the poor boy's mind. "Nothing at all. Or were you expecting something to happen?" An easy smile formed on his lips while he teasingly wiggled his eyebrows to the blond. "Ah, you were, weren't you? Naughty Riku."

"Huh?! In your dreams, baldy!" Yagami instantly scoffed, returning to his usual 'say-that-again-and-I'll-kick-your-ass' attitude towards the ravenhead. But, Fujiwara didn't miss the slight trembling of Yagami's voice and his shaky clenched fists even though the blond tried (but failed miserably) to hide them.

What on earth happened to the blond after he moved away? Fujiwara felt nauseous from the endless uneasiness and worry growing inside his stomach as he imagined the worst possible scenarios.

After the unfortunate accident that took away the lives of Yagami's parents', he along with his older brother, Tomoe, became orphans at quite a young age. Then, the older Yagami accepted an offer plus scholarship to further his degree in the United States. And Riku was ultimately sent to live with his middle-aged uncle who was, shockingly, the principal of their school. Not many believed it though. Because the blond didn't looked anything like the principal at all, there were no resemblance in them whatsoever so you wouldn't expected them to actually be related.

Being the quick witted boy he was, Fujiwara managed to join bits and pieces of the puzzle together but suspected that he might had a wrong idea of everything after all. "...Riku..." The raven-haired started but stopped midway, earning a perplexed glance from the other boy. He shouldn't press on, else there's no turning back if he did. They should stay the way they were right now, just friends, nothing less, nothing more.

"What?" Yagami impatiently asked when the muscle-obsessed strider didn't continue his sentence, looking as normal as ever once more.

"No, it's nothing. Hey, we're gonna be late for school." Fujiwara smoothly changed topic while pointing a finger towards the wall clock showing the time; thirty minutes to eight.

"Crap! Why didn't you say so earlier, idiot!" The blond scrambled out of the couch and ran towards the bathroom at the speed of light. "I'll be borrowing your uniform, okay..!"

"Sure..."

Fujiwara then laughed softly at his own thoughts, "We're like newlyweds, aren't we?" It was absurd thinking, but one the ravenhead wouldn't mind having all day long. Aside from when he's running of course. Fujiwara Takeru, a boy so passionate about striding, his head full of nothing but running techniques, effective training regime and a balanced diet (consisting of nothing but white meat of course) in order to be in his optimum state.

And he was helplessly infatuated with a boy named Yagami Riku.

* * *

A boy with medium length straw-coloured hair effortlessly ran over the obstacles, the motion of his lithe body was strikingly precise and light, garnering awe in every eye that witness. He looked like a little child playing to his heart content, a satisfied smile plastered across his smooth face, sweat glistening down his pale cheeks as he nimbly climbed a tall wall and effortlessly made a three-sixty degree backflip before landing on his feet.

A pair of eyes behind round glasses remained transfixed to the effeminate-looking boy, even as the boy long finished his stunt.

"Ayumu-kun? You're here too? Why didn't you say anything, I didn't notice you there!" Kohinata Hozumi, the Trickster of Honan, known for his amazing reflexes and agility, excitedly waved to the bespectacled male hiding behind a stoned pillar. The boy called Ayumu flinched and panicked a little to be caught staring at his cute talented teammate too intently. "N-o I just - don't want to disturb you..!" Ayumu scratched his cheeks lamely.

Hozumi smiled that lovely smile whenever he's enjoying himself or feeling happy. "What are you saying~ Ayumu-kun would never be a bother to me." Ayumu swore if he was a mutant, he would long transform into a puddle of disgusting goo every time he sees that mesmerizing smile.

"Do you want to practice with me?" Hozumi offered, his light blue eyes gleamed in anticipation.

"Y-yeah... I would love to." Ayumu blushed and nodded shyly, earning himself another wide grin from the happy go lucky boy. "Ehe, that's great then!" Flowers and sparkles served as their background, the whole atmosphere somehow turned all fluffy and cheesy-like but Ayumu couldn't care less. He was currently on cloud nine from being able to spend some time alone with the gorgeous straw-haired boy.

"Am I interrupting something?" Hasekura Heath, captain of the Honan Stride Club, suddenly appeared in between the two boys, coughing purposely to announce his presence. He was a tall boy with medium length brown hair and dark green eyes, lengthy bangs pulled back neatly with a thin black hairband. The two unaware boys flinched on their spots, having to be caught off guard by the third-year student.

"Heath-kun~ will you be joining us as well?" Hozumi quickly regained composure, looking like an excited little puppy there and then. Relation's more exciting with more people after all! Hasekura could not resist patting the shorter boy's head, slowly savoring the feel of Hozumi's soft fluffy hair against his palm.

"Yeah, I'm in alright." Both of them exchanged friendly gestures afterwards, with Hasekura playfully messing up Hozumi's hair who lightly punched the brunette's shoulder in return.

At that point, the captain, smiling so smugly, was the only one who noticed a very envy-looking Ayumu burning in jealousy while staring daggers at him.

'Ohoho? Things are getting quite interesting now...' Hasekura thought to himself, an evil idea emerged inside his twisted little mind. "Oh, our lovely Relationer is not here today, is she?" He looked around, seeing no sign of the twin tailed girl who was their new Relationer, in other words, the person in charge of connecting the relay between two members by giving them the go sign by the right time and distance.

"Sakurai-chan had to leave early today since she's busy with the cultural festival preparation. Ah, Takeru-kun and Rikkun as well! I heard their class is doing a play, how exciting~" Hozumi explained, and he didn't forget to mention how reluctant Fujiwara was to leave practice early. "Takeru-kun's so passionate when it comes to striding, isn't he?" That immediately received nods from two heads, perhaps the raven-haired boy was a bit _too_ passionate, in fact.

"We'll bring back Honan's glory days for sure. And maybe Kyousuke would come back to us if we win more matches..." Hasekura spoke quietly, he was reminded of a long silver-haired person, who had left the club a while ago, saying he wasn't fit to be a strider anymore.

The atmosphere turned gloomy fast. With an encouraging smile, the light blond softly said, "Don't worry. I'm sure he'll come back soon enough, right Ayumu-kun?" He cast a sad glance to the green haired boy, who nodded a bit too quickly in agreement. "Yes, we can't stop believing, Hasekura-senpai."

The club leader beamed brightly while locking his arms around the two juniors' necks, "Aww, I have the sweetest teammates, don't I?"

"Y-You're choking us..!" Both Hozumi and Ayumu struggled under their captain's vice grip.

* * *

"What kind of conspiracy is this? Are you guys trying to plot on me or something!?" Yagami whined for the umpteenth time today. Meanwhile, his 'cool' friend remained impassive as ever.

At the end of class, his classmates were busy discussing on what event should they do for the upcoming school's annual festival and finally decided on a play. The well known 'Sleeping Beauty'.

And somehow, majority of the students in his class were hell bent on voting him as the princess and Fujiwara as the prince. Yagami didn't mind partaking in the play since he loved acting and such but it's the role he got itself being the main cause of his disagreement.

"Which part of me looked like a girl?" The blond grunted in dissatisfaction, feeling the injustice of being labelled as a weak, girly type while Fujiwara get to be the prince charming, a role befitting him too much, Yagami reluctantly admitted.

"Aww, Yagami-kun don't worry so much. You're as manly as you could get. It's just acting! Besides, Fujiwara-kun won't accept the prince role otherwise if it's not you as the princess." One of the girls giggled and told him the actual truth. Sakurai, who was busy sewing the performance outfits simply nodded in agreement, concentrating on her task to the fullest, being the hardworking girl she was.

"Not you too, Sakurai-san..." Why did people always pair him up with that leg maniac? The blond begrudgingly cursed his childhood friend internally. 'I'll get you for this, Fujiwara...'

"...Riku." A breath of air reached Yagami's ear so that the poor blond almost screeched in surprise, he whipped his head around so fast and ended up tripping on his feet. "Wahh!"

 _Bump!_

"Shit... what just happened?" Yagami grabbed on tight to whatever it was that had prevented him from falling flat to the ground face first. Suddenly, he could hear cheers and whistles erupted from the whole classroom, an ominous feeling nesting in his heart as he peeked open his dark brown eyes.

"Are you alright..? Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." There Fujiwara was, holding the blond by the shoulders, his grip firm and strong. "A-ah, no... I'm fine, t-thanks." Yagami could feel his face burning up from the unwanted attention everyone was pouring onto them. And how the hell could Fujiwara stayed so emotionless the whole time was beyond the blond's comprehension because, this was hella embarrassing.

"Ooohh, look how natural they are together! And we haven't even started practicing yet!" The girls squealed aloud, some were even snapping pictures with their smartphones (damn fangirls everywhere).

The boys weren't much of a help either, Yagami felt as if his ears would fall off from the distasteful remarks and playful taunts chorused by almost everyone in their class.

'Damn you. I swear I'll really get you for this, Fujiwara...'

* * *

 **Thanks for the lively responses urging me to continue this~ I'll start introducing the other members in time. But for now... what will it be for the second pair? AyumuxHozumi or HasekuraxHozumi or a threesome...? /slaps self/**

 **See you soon~**

 **EDIT: Crap I just watched ep 5 of PoS just now~ and HeathxKyousuke is effing real~~~~ Hozumi is so sweet with Ayumu too xD and that TakeRiku bit ofc. I ship almost every member with each other now xD**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Yagami entered through the front door of his uncle's house (his current 'home') as quiet as he could. It was already nine pm by the time he reached home since the school play practice had just ended. He swear to god, if he had to pretend to be asleep one more time, he'd definitely would've self-exploded.

A lopsided grin lingered on his lips as he recalled Fujiwara's half-jokingly invitation, "The other half of my bed is always exclusive for you - " A shoe ended up flying to the raven's face. 'Idiot...haha.'

But, that smile immediately disappeared as he stepped into the house, the atmosphere turned dark and eerie-like in an instant.

'Please, let him not be at home yet. Please, please - '

The blond's steps stopped abruptly as he entered through the large, spacious living room at the sight of a middle-aged man quietly sitting on a recliner directly in front of him, one hand holding a lighted cigarette and the other a walking cane stick.

"...Riku. Where have you been last night..?" The man asked with that eerie low voice of his. The man had greyish dark hair and a pair of grey eyes which sometimes darkened whenever the man had hysterical fits. Like most of the time.

The poor boy lightly stepped back reflexively as he eyed the cane, gripping both of his knuckles hard so that he would stop shaking. One wrong move or word would be fatal, the blond thought.

"Answer me when I'm speaking to you..!" Sasada Keiichi, Yagami's uncle from his father's side, almost hissed angrily, he was starting to lose his patience. The rise in the older man's tone caused Yagami to flinched involuntarily.

A deafening silence ensued afterwards as the yellow haired teen contemplated on the right words to say. He had to think fast.

The calm before a storm, such was his situation right now.

And when the storm comes... It won't be pretty.

Yagami exhaled shakily as he replied, "I - I was staying over at a friend's..." He prevented himself from mentioning Fujiwara's name because his uncle could be so iniquitous at times. God knew what would happened to his black-haired friend if he did tell his aggressive uncle with whom and where he had been to.

"Why?" Mr. Sasada inquired, metallic eyes wandered condescendingly all over Yagami, making the poor boy shifted uncomfortably in his spot, brown eyes trembled in fear, his tiny voice quivered slightly. The man smirked, pleased to instil such fear in his poor nephew.

"Be - because..."

 _Because of you, you freaking sadistic abuser of an uncle!_ Yagami's inner mind rebelled, but it could only do so from the inside. He won't risk losing a limb or two by being a smartass with his mentally unstable uncle.

God, help me... The blond silently prayed that he would miraculously escaped another hellish day with his relative, his now rightful guardian, his so-called 'family'. He had to hold his fort here, for Tomoe's sake.

"Why can't you even answer me properly, you useless little shit! Did your father never taught you manners?!"

Out of the blue, the school principal rose from his seat and bellowed in an angry fit, swinging the cane up and down as he marched towards the cowering blond, who was too shocked to even move. He could only stared back with that round chestnut orbs of his as he readied himself for another beating.

"Stop looking at me with that goddamn eyes! Why do you have to resemble your mother so much..." The man looked nostalgic for one second before switching back to his maniacal expression, that scared Yagami down to the core, sending shivers down his trembling spine.

"She was supposed to be mine! But then, your father came along and conveniently snatched her from me! That useless, revolting father of yours..!" String of insults followed suit as the school principal voiced out his dissatisfaction when his ex lover walked out on him only to marry his younger brother.

"And you... If only you didn't exist..!" The gray-haired man suddenly swung his cane at full force to the teen's abdomen so that the cylindrical end of the cane hit the poor blond's ribcage, hard.

Yagami screamed out in pain as a stabbing sensation attacked him in the stomach, causing him to kneel down on the floor as he clutched the burning area. Looking up, he could see two dead eyes staring him down with a wide creepy grin plastered across his stubbly face. "N-No... not the legs!" He whimpered as the stick poked and probed his body from all directions, but he still desperately protected his legs from getting hit.

"HUH? DID YOU JUST TALKED BACK TO ME, YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF SHIT?!" More lashings struck upon defenseless body, pain was never something that Yagami could get used to, but he was now immune to the whiplash sounds made when the cane, belt or any other material hit his skin repeatedly.

Even in his excruciatingly powerless state, the blond feebly bowed down until his forehead touched the cool marbled floor, shielding his legs from the mad man's whips. "Pl...please uncle, not the legs, please. I - I need them to run... for the S-Stride Club."

 _You can take away everything else from me, my family, my home. But, not my legs. Not striding._

 _Because without it, I would be useless... My life, my existence would be meaningless._

"...ergh..!" Yagami bit his lips hard until they bleed as another wave of back lashings continued mercilessly. 'It'll go away soon. Just bear with it a little more...'

"That's more like it, Riku... my sweet little nephew... Don't hold back that beautiful scream." His uncle laughed almost hysterically, and the incessant beatings stopped instantaneously.

"Remember, don't forget who's in charge here." Mr. Sasada, having to satisfy himself for the day, snickered unsympathetically before making his way to his study room, leaving the injured boy still crouching on the ground all alone.

The housekeeper who came every morning to prepare dishes and clean up the house had long gone home since. No one was there to help the poor blond. No one except himself.

After a few seconds, Yagami slowly brought himself to his feet, wincing in pain as he did so, while minding his new set of injuries.

He needed to get to his room and locked himself in first, before he even thought of fainting. No way in hell would he let his guard down with that abusive bastard of a man still around.

* * *

Closing and firmly locked his bedroom with a steel padlock behind him (in which he secretly installed without his uncle's knowledge), Yagami slipped to the ground, his wounded back facing the wall.

Everywhere on his body was hurting and bruising, every cell and fibre of his body sent off an SOS signal, for his beaten and worned out body to be tended to, but the semi conscious blond could barely stand up without any support anymore. He needed some rest first.

 _Bzzt. Bzzt_.

A vibration resounded inside the muted small room, empty of any liveliness and sound. Yagami carefully fished out his phone from the pocket of his pants, wincing in pain every time he moved brashly and worsened his injuries.

It was a text message. From Fujiwara nonetheless!

F - Hey, did you got back home yet?

It was just for a split second, but reading Fujiwara's text instantly ignite a fire in those russet-colored eyes that started glistening with tears of mixed feelings.

Y - Wazzit to u

Yagami tried typing the least choice of words there was, since most of his fingers were now badly bruised, all purplish blue.

Another reply came after a few seconds. Damn, Fujiwara was a speedy typer all right.

F - Why are you typing like you've broken your fingers or something?

The blond broke into a long unforced laughter at that, "Oh, Take-chan, if you only knew." He helplessly wiped away mirth tears that escaped his beautiful reddish-brown eyes. Rather than being unnecessarily furious at the irony of Fujiwara's words, Yagami found hilarity in it instead and he laughed, he laughed so easily yet again everytime he reread it.

Y - omg how did u noe

F - What? Did you hurt your hands? I'm coming to your house then.

Yagami's titters died down at that instant. He started panicking. Who knew the blue-eyed boy would even take his jokes so seriously. 'Ahh you stoic, leg maniac you. Can't you tell it's a joke when you see one?' As swiftly but carefully as he could, the blond typed out a quick reply.

Y - oi i was jk dont come

F - ...you sure?

Y - yh its juz a joke

Don't come, don't come, don't come. The injured boy frantically prayed in his heart so that Fujiwara would believe his lies instead. However, a tiny little voice in his heart prayed otherwise, _Please come and take me away far from all my miseries -_ No, stop it! Wishful thinking could not save anyone, Yagami learnt it the hard way.

F - Okay then. See you tomorrow Riku-chan~ :)

Y - c ya

As soon as Yagami replied, his head slowly landed to the carpeted floor and the poor blond soon dozed off from exhaustion.

* * *

When rustic eyes fluttered open, Yagami's head was situated on someone's muscular thigh, a sweet smiling Fujiwara looking down at him as a hand smoothly stroked his golden hair, a pair of sapphire eyes filled with warmth and comfort.

How did they ended up in this position again? But no matter. All that mattered was Yagami felt safe. He felt amazingly at ease with the other boy.

The raven haired mouthed something to him, over and over, in which the blond struggled to decipher.

 _What?_

 _'...'_

 _Slow down._

 _'...you.'_

 _Me?_

 _'...ove you.'_

 _Huh?_

 _'I love you.'_

 _WHAT?_

* * *

Dark cherry eyes popped open, and the first thing that welcomed Yagami was; pain.

"O-oww..." The blond repositioned himself so that he was leaning against the door with much difficulty. He had carelessly fallen asleep on the floor last night right after texting with Fujiwara.

"Stupid... why did I dreamt such a thing?" Heat started spreading across his face as he recalled Fujiwara's confession in his dream which felt oddly vivid and real somehow. Pink hue dusting pale smooth cheeks, heart palpitating, lips all dried up and uninvited butterflies dancing around in his stomach.

Kohinata-senpai's words suddenly rang inside his head, "I heard dreams are the manifestations of your hidden desires." Yagami froze for a whole minute, before vigorously shook his head in denial.

No, no, that can't be it. Him? Fujiwara? _Love?_ What nonsense was that?

The blond came up with all kinds of theories to decipher the meaning behind such strange dream.

It must be because of the texts. And how concerned Fujiwara was towards him. And the fact he'd been neglecting his lower half for the longest time. Maybe he was getting lonely. Maybe he needed a girlfriend.

But, with his current problems? Not happening.

Limping, Yagami made way towards his closet and pulled out a first aid kit. Forget all those useless thoughts. He needed to get the now swollen wounds treated first.

 **To be continued...**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Good morning, Yagami-kun! Are you all right? Aren't you looking a little pale?" Nana greeted her friend who had just arrived looking as if he's been hit by a bus or something.

"Mornin'. Yeah, I'm fine, Sakurai-san. Just a bit sleep deprived." Yagami quickly fixed a nervous smile as he covered his fingers on his back, making way to his seat careful not to bump into anything. His fingers and other parts of his body seemed perfectly normal to the naked eye. They looked like his normal skin colour thanks to the makeup he used to conceal the bruise.

However, the blond still felt as shitty as one would get after a good old beating with a cane. He could only do so much with the pain by dabbing the wounded spots with ointment and he did swallowed a couple of painkiller pills just now. Because skipping school might arouse suspicion especially of a certain blackheaded boy.

Keeping a straight face, Yagami placed his bag and took his seat as slow but natural as he could. His classmates started filling the classroom and the class was soon full of loud chatters. He noticed Nana kept on glancing at him when he's not looking, a worried expression washed over her sweet face. Sakurai-san was too kind for her own good, Yagami mused, feeling slightly touched by her genuine worry over him.

And not long after, a raven-haired boy entered, looking aloof as usual. Yagami steeled himself for the worst case scenario.

 _Act normal now._

If possible, the blond didn't want his secret to be exposed, more so by Fujiwara. It would be a bloody mess, he could just picture it in his head.

"Morning, Yagami." Fujiwara greeted and gently brushed his fingers through Yagami's soft yellow hair, startling the unprepared blond a bit. He could feel his heartbeat quickening and a light blush immediately crept up his white cheeks at the other's touch. "Y..yo.."

 _Ahhh... he touched me, oh my god, I was so surprised! (Yagami's inner thoughts)_

Fujiwara smiled microscopically, happy to see such an adorable reaction from his precious Riku-chan but then, he gave the brown-eyed boy a hard, long stare. Something felt off somewhere, he was so used to staring at the blond whenever he had the chance to quickly know that Yagami didn't looked like he normally would today.

"Are you..." The blue eyed teen boldly held Yagami's chin up and examined his face intently. "...okay? Your face is drained of some blood it seems." Piercing sea blue eyes met trembling dark cherry ones. (Let's face it, Fujiwara just wanted an excuse to touch Yagami here given chance).

"Yes, I'm perfectly fine..!" The red faced blond blurted out at a heartbeat, body all tensed up due to their proximity, Fujiwara's intense gaze was unbearable, oh and his hot breath tickling Yagami's skin proved to not helped much at all.

 _He's too close! Someone help me. T.T (Again, Yagami's inner thoughts)_

"Okay, that's enough of you two lovebirds. Class is starting soon! You can continue during practice later, okay?" A light smack to Fujiwara's head effectively released his hold, he complained 'that hurt' in a boring tone to the class rep (the one who had just hit him) and begrudgingly trudged to his own seat. "We'll talk more during lunchtime, okay..." Before that, he managed a seductive whisper into Yagami's reddened ear.

The blond shook his head and stuck out his tongue childishly, 'No way!' He whispered back, earning a chuckle from the ravenhead.

 _We'll see about that, Princess._ Fujiwara playfully mouthed out to the blond.

 _OH NO YOU DIDN'T JUST -_ Yagami mouthed back threateningly but didn't get to finish his sentence at the sound of the classroom door sliding opened.

"Sorry I'm late! Okay, let's begin our class. Today, we'll be learning differentiation..." The teacher who had just whisked her way in, settled her things and books onto the table and began writing some equations on the blackboard.

Thus, commenced hell for a boy named Yagami Riku that day. Or..not?

* * *

"Riku." Fujiwara gave Yagami a perfect wall-slam or kabe-don or whatever term you used to describe two persons, one pitted against the wall while the other sandwiched him with both hands on either side of the first person's body.

Here they were, alone on the rooftop during lunch break, Yagami being pushed to the wall against his will and Fujiwara, looking more serious than usual. "What happened to you? Tell me. And don't you even try to lie. I could easily figure it out even if you do."

However, the stubborn Yagami remained tight-lipped, he turned his head slightly to the left and avoided eye contact. "Nothing's wrong. Now, let me through." The blond's head stayed low until his straw-coloured bangs fell down to his face. Why did he feel like crying now? He hated Fujiwara for always figuring out what's wrong with him just by a single look, words simply not needed.

"Then, why do you look like you're about to cry anytime now?" Fujiwara softly asked, tucking some of the golden strands behind Yagami's ears. "I - I am not...crying..?" The blond said, but his body reacted otherwise. Pearly tears dropped one by one to the ground, and Yagami clumsily wiped off the tears with his sleeves, sniffling like a little child getting mad at.

Fujiwara pulled the crying blond into the most gentlest embrace he could give, minding his friend's injuries. "You're hurt, aren't you? Forgive me, Riku-chan. I should've acted sooner..."

Yagami's sobs became louder, he felt as if the amount of stress and pain and sadness piling up in him starting to dissipate just like that as he cried in Fujiwara's arms repeating nothing but, "Take-chan" over and over.

The raven-haired boy made soothing circles on Yagami's trembling back, "Mm-hm, I'm here. I'm here for you now, Riku-chan... cry all you want, okay?"

This was not a fairytale. Fujiwara was not a prince and Yagami was definitely not the princess. But, the blond sort of understand what it feels like to be in one at the moment.

Because right now, Fujiwara looked no different than a prince charming on a white horse. Not that Yagami admitted being the princess but he was just trying to make a point or something.

Fujiwara Takeru had always been his knight in shiny armor, Yagami finally began to see that.

* * *

The two childhood friends moved from the rooftop to the stride club locker room, after the blonde had calm down enough since Fujiwara was adamant on inspecting Yagami's body for any injury inflicted by the principal and treating it properly while he's at it. Since the infirmary wouldn't be a private place to check, not with that grumpy old doctor lingering around anyway.

They still had some time left before the afternoon break end so the raven-haired would like to fully utilise the time in hand.

Entering the empty room, Fujiwara locked the door behind him, "Shirt's off." He commanded as they took a seat on one of the benches in the middle of the small room.

"E..eh? Wait - "Yagami protested but he couldn't do much against someone twice as stronger than he was. In seconds, his shirt became undone, exposing a well-toned chest with a few bruises here and there.

Fujiwara's emotions as he saw this were indescribable. Enraged, infuriated, distressed, sorrowful and other chain of other negative feelings connected together. Strong hands wandered from one spot to another, lightly touching the wounded areas. "Fingers... abdomen... arms... back... and even a cut on the lip." Sapphire eyes sadly eyed the bruises forming all over Yagami's pale white skin, long fingers trailing over them in hopes of taking the pain away.

On the other hand, Yagami's mind was spiralling, he could not even think straight as he experienced Fujiwara's gentle and warm touches like jolts of electricity every time their skins grazed. "Fuji..wara... stop.. touching me.. uh!" He yelped, when a hand came in contact with his chest, an area the blond was particularly sensitive to and he unconsciously leaned forward.

His hands froze in the air, hearing Yagami's moan directly turned Fujiwara on. "You mean...here?" The boy with silky dark hair asked mischievously before bringing his cold fingers to the blond's chest once.

"Ah..! St - stop..! Hn..." Yagami began slurring his words out, pain was now struggling for dominance with pleasure as he shakily held on to the boy in front of him. Fujiwara's touches... felt so damn good somehow. The blond could feel his pants tightening. Stop. Anymore than this, he'll...

Crystal blue eyes seemed to be deep in thoughts before a cool voice finally asked, "Want me to help you?"

"Huh?" A teary-eyed Yagami shot a quizzical look to his childhood friend. "Wh..what do you mean..?"

A hand casually touched Yagami's crotch, "I mean this."

"Ahn!" A moan, louder than before, involuntarily escaped the blond's cherry lips, his body jerked upwards at the sensation. "Haa... don't just do what you want, idiot." His face flushed as red as an overriped tomato, terribly mortified to let out such a lascivious sound.

"I'll give you a hand, okay?" Fujiwara inched closer, the walls, the invisible barrier he built between them easily crumbled down at the sight of a very delectable-looking Yagami, flushed red face, glistening eyes, pink lips panting slightly. On the inside, the ravenhead was going crazy with want for his friend, his self control seemed to be flying further away as time passed by.

Yagami planted his head to Fujiwara's chest and replied with a quivering voice, "I'm.. s-scared..." He really was. After all those traumatizing beatings and being verbally abused for months, he felt afraid to experience something else other than pain simply because his body was not used to it.

"Shh... don't be afraid. I won't ever hurt you, you know that right?" Fujiwara gently hugged the trembling blond yet again as he spoke, "Just relax... I'll make you feel good soon enough." His low tone voice sent shivers down Yagami's spine, a new feeling arisen inside of him; it was anticipation.

* * *

"Haa.. haa.. f-faster..! Ah! There..!" Yagami rocked his body back and forth as Fujiwara skillfully massaged his member, already leaking with precum. Wet noises filled the quiet room followed by Yagami's wanton cries and Fujiwara's equally erratic breathing and panting.

"Riku, I'll make you feel even better than this..." As Fujiwara said this, his thumb played around the tip of Yagami's hardened member and made circular motions with it almost teasingly slow. Yagami's reactions were spastic, the blond high from exhilaration, cried out loud, feeling his peak was near. "Ta-Takeru! I'm coming...! Sh..shit!" He desperately clung onto the other boy.

"Come." Fujiwara quickened his hand movement and not before long, Yagami let out an erotic moan, body arching backwards as he came in Fujiwara's hand.

The exhausted blond fell against Fujiwara's body, panting heavily for air, having no energy left to spare. Dark brown eyes enlarged at the sight of the dark-haired boy now licking off the white substance from his hand. "I-idiot! What're you doin', it's dirty..!"

"Hm? I just want a taste of Riku's of course." Fujiwara smoothly said, resulting in a very embarrassed looking Yagami, who was lost for words for once. Feeling his eyes getting heavier, the blond closed his eyelids and was soon fast asleep.

It didn't take Fujiwara too long to clean up the sleeping blond and treated his wounds with antiseptic and clean bandages. He silently took a good look at Yagami's peaceful sleeping face, playing with the golden bangs once in a while.

"Sleep for now, my dear princess... I'll take you away from that wretched man soon..." The once clear blue eyes turned dark, clouded with blind vengeance and hatred for the man that dared lay hands on his precious Riku.

* * *

"Ne, Kyousuke! Guess what? I'll be returning to Japan in two days time." A man with medium length of black hair, bangs parted in the middle, spoke through his touchscreen phone in a rather cheery tone. "Ah and don't tell my cute lil' brother, I want to surprise him!"

The Kyousuke person seemed to say something from the other end making the man laughed out loud instantly, "No, I don't have a brother complex and yeah, of course I missed you too~"

After a few more words, they said their goodbyes and hung up. The navy blue haired man stretched up his sore muscles and stared out at the clear blue skies through the window of his apartment. At long last, he'll finally be reunited with his precious brother, his only family, once more.

Yagami Tomoe smiled nostalgically at the thought of his little Riku, he was brought down the memory lane, reminiscing their childhood together.

'Wait for me, Riku!'

 **To be continued...**

* * *

Hey guys. Sorry for the late update. I'm down with pneumonia and is still recovering at the moment. Hopefully, I'll still be alive to keep writing after this lol. Okay enough of that, I've finally added some smexy TakeRiku scenes so please share me your thoughts and thanks so much for the favs, follows and reviews~ *hugs and kisses*


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Takerun, watch out!" Hozumi, running at full speed towards Fujiwara, warned the distracted raven. It was too late for him to stop, the strider came to a conclusion quick - they're going to collide.

Fujiwara turned his head all slow motion, like in a climatic scene from one of those action-packed movies, "Huh? Umf-"

Two heads crashed, and the owners flung to the opposite directions from the impact.

"O-ow... My bad... Kohinata-senpai, are you alright?" Fujiwara held on his buzzing head, it felt as if someone had purposely rang the church bell just right beside his ears. "Sorry, I was spacing out - argh - my head.."

Hozumi groaned later, showing signs of life. His head was spinning, his eyes were swirling round and round in confusion. "I-I think I'm...fine-" The older boy fell to the ground, face first. He fainted.

"Kohinata-senpai/Hozumi/Kohinata-shi!"

Every stride member ran towards the unconscious blue-eyed boy, everyone except the dumbstruck Fujiwara, still slumping on the cemented floor. What the hell was he doing, getting all lost in thoughts during a relay practice? He eyed Yagami, the root of the problem itself. And at the same time, Yagami's worried red-brown eyes locked into Fujiwara's deep blue ones, his thoughts became apparent.

'Are you thinking what I'm thinking you're thinking right now?' The blond seemed to say, light colored eyebrows furrowed a little.

Fujiwara looked away, he really didn't want to answer that. Of course it's been on his mind! It's been nagging him all night long after the blond properly explained why he didn't take actions, or do anything to stop that abusive bastard and put him behind bars already. And that concerned his older brother, Tomoe.

Heath gently turned the passed out boy so that he's lying on his back again and patted his cheek softly, "Hozumi! Hey, can you hear me?" The poor boy was out cold for good. "...no choice. I'll carry him to the infirmary for now." Heath's words made a certain greenhead whipped his face towards the captain at lightning speed. Say what?!

A look of terror shadowed Ayumu's face, with a mixture of jealousy perhaps..? He knew now's not the time to be feeling such petty emotions but he can't help it. The idea of Hasekura-senpai carrying Hozumi in his arms or on his back made Ayumu sick to the core, stomach twisted into knots, heart torn to shreds.

"Hasekura-senpai!" Heath's hands stopped midway at the beckon of his name. "Sensei wants to see you-! Oh my goodness, what's going on here?! What happened to Kohinata-senpai..?" Nana came running from the teacher's lounge only to find the members crowding over an unconscious Hozumi.

"Um, Fujiwara and Kohinata-senpai had a little...accident?" Yagami briefly explained as he quickly masked his conflicted expression with his usual bubbly front, making sure Fujiwara did te same. He'll deal with own his problems later. He can't afford to add up the amount of stress everyone's feeling at the moment.

"Don't worry, Sakurai-chan. I was just taking him to the infirmary to rest." Heath reassured the little girl who was now on the verge of crying from worry.

"Oh! T-then, w-what should we do? Sensei said he needed to have a word with you right now, senpai. It's urgent." Nana informed frantically.

"Haa... now, that is a problem. Right, Kadowaki?" The third-year suddenly turned to the bespectacled boy. Ayumu almost jumped in surprise. The mischievous glint in Heath's eyes seemed to be hinting on something.

 _Heath: 'Are you up for it, lover boy?'_

Ayumu gritted his teeth in irritation. His senpai could be so annoyingly childish at times. And how on earth did the brunette knew how he felt towards Hozumi? Unless - unless he had been so damn obvious about it, which he thought not. Or else Hozumi would've found out about it ages ago (or the pun-loving boy was simply too oblivious to even notice, Ayumu speculated that much).

But, Hasekura-shi... Don't take his feelings for Hozumi so lightly, darn it!

 _Ayumu: 'The game's on, mole-guy!'_

The greenhead cleared his throat loudly while fixing his glasses. "I - I'll carry him, then..."

"Heh, that's what I like to hear... so I'll be seeing teach' than, take good care of Hozumi! And don't do anything strange, okay? I'm watching ya~" Heath winked playfully and quickly left with the caramel haired female before Ayumu could even retort back.

Nana hastily added, "Please, take care of Kohinata-senpai! We'll be there soon."

"What did Hasekura-senpai meant by that, Kadowaki-senpai?" Yagami innocently asked. The quiet Fujiwara looked just as curious.

"H-how the heck am I supposed to know!" Flushing on the face, Ayumu huffed angrily as he carried Hozumi on his back. 'He's sooo light! God, is he eating enough?'

"I'll be going then." Securing his hold on Hozumi one last time, Ayumu began walking to the direction of the nurse's office.

Thus, Yagami and Fujiwara were left alone at the school's track field.

"Here, grab on."

Yagami was now standing in front Fujiwara, stretching out his hand to pull the other boy up.

"Fujiwara, we need to talk." Yagami's tone was serious. He kinda regretted involving his friend into his problem. They won't be in this mess to begin with if he didn't. Yeah, he felt relieved having someone to poured it out to but Fujiwara was still a student like him, powerless and won't be taken seriously, unless they have enough evidence to convict that disgusting uncle of his. Proof that he was indeed beaten up by that bastard.

But, their principal was an unbelievably cunning little weasel. He'll do whatever it takes to wiggle his way out of the accusation, Yagami figured out that much. He'd go as far as to imply that Yagami was self abusing himself, that he had been psychologically damaged after his parents' deaths. The sly man was capable of doing such heinous things.

"Riku... I-" Fujiwara held onto the outstretched hand but pulled the blond down into a hug instead.

"Woah- Fujiwara..?!" Yagami turned rigid from their sudden closeness. It didn't take too long for a blush to creep up his face, for his heart to pump harder, for his stomach to flip inside out. Fujiwara did - and still does - these things to him. Although he wished he knew why. "O-oi... what's the big idea?"

"Did he do anything to you last night?" The muscle obsessed strider didn't bother beating around the bushes.

Yagami immediately replied, "N-no! He didn't came back home last night... don't worry too much! The beatings didn't happen regularly." He explained, hoping to dissipate the enraged aura Fujiwara was emanating.

Fujiwara exhaled shakily, arms tightly wound around the blond's pale nape, "I really can't stand seeing you hurt... We have to do something." The dark haired teen tried to persuade the stubborn Yagami, adamant on not taking any action yet.

"I...I'm fine, idiot! It won't be long until Tomoe turn of legal age to be my rightful guardian. Until then-"

"Until then, what? You'll let him do as he pleases? What if... what if he breaks you? I won't let that happen." Fujiwara's face became darker. He'll kill that fucking retard if it's the last thing he'll do..!

Warm hands slowly cupped the scowling face. Yagami's gaze was calm and steady. "You know that's not even an issue, right? I'm stronger than that." The blond attempted to reassure the overprotective dark-haired boy. Of course it's painful and scary. But, knowing he had Fujiwara, Tomoe, striding and other members of the same club sharing the same connections, those bonds made him stronger and sturdier. "Because I'm not fighting alone. I have you guys." _Especially you, my silly Mr. Leg Maniac._

Fujiwara was almost convinced but not entirely. He'd do anything to be the one taking the beating instead. Yagami deserved so much more after having lost both of his parents and was unwillingly separated from his big brother. "Alright... we'll wait." He lied.

'We'll wait alright. After I gave that sick old geezer a piece of my mind.' Evil schemes were planned. All that's left was; the execution. And let's keep it a secret from Yagami, Fujiwara decided. The prince had to defeat the dragon to get to the princess, right? This was just a similar situation to that analogy, only a modernized one.

"Hey, we have another practice after this. The play, remember? Shit, I can't believe we're performing tomorrow..." Yagami withdrew his hands and got up on his feet, shortly followed by the raven-haired afterwards.

"Oho, finally I'll get to see my lovely princess in his sweet little dress - how exciting~" Fujiwara purposely commented with a playful smirk, earning a punch in the gut by the flaming red blond.

Fujiwara then dramatically imitated some duke from the olden era gestures and spoke in absolute solemnity, "May I have the honor of leading the way, your royalness?" Yagami gaped for a while before bursting into laugh at the ridiculousness but he still took the offered hand, playing along with Fujiwara's childish antics. "Permission granted, my lord."

* * *

"Shima-sensei?" Ayumu rapped on the door to the infirmary a few times but no answer came. "I guess she's not in... We're coming in then."

The infirmary showed no signs of life. Heading towards one of the empty beds, the greenhaired boy carefully lied Hozumi down and pulled the covers over him.

After that, the sophomore took a seat by the bed, waiting for his friend to regain consciousness. He caught himself staring intently at the soft features of Hozumi's face, delicate light blond hair, milky white skin, thick eyelashes and those plump, pinky lips.

Ayumu became fidgety, every small thing he saw or heard made him jumped. He didn't trust himself too much by being around a sleeping Hozumi, who looked so goddamn inviting for some reason.

"M-maybe I should get Shima-sensei- ACK!"

The unlucky Ayumu accidentally hit one of the sharp corners of the bed with his knee and lost his balance, his body was about to fall backwards and possibly crush Hozumi behind him. 'I'm not letting that happen!' The greenhead did an amazing hundred and eighty side flip and stopped his hands between Hozumi's shoulders, trapping the sleeping blond under him.

They were currently in a very compromised position with Ayumu looming on top of Hozumi, whose eyes were miraculously still shut tight.

 _Oh god oh god oh god-_

Ayumu could almost cry in joy, he praised the gods for giving him such a rare opportunity to be this close to his sweet-smiling crush. His heart and whole system were raving madly as if they're having a wild party. A whiff of jasmine soon infiltrated his nostrils; Hozumi's refreshing scent. "You smell...so nice..." Ayumu unconsciously leaned closer to take another sniff.

"...mmhm..." Hozumi stirred a bit and Ayumu's heart almost stopped.

The bespectacled boy started trembling in sheer panic. What the hell was he trying to do right there?! He needed to get off the blond now. But before he could backed away, Hozumi's arms hugged his waist and Ayumu almost squeaked in surprise. "-?!"

 _Did he wake up?! I'm screwed. I'm so-_

Dark jade eyes slowly took a glance at the blond's face. Fortunately, Hozumi's eyes remained close.

 _Thank goodness._

"Oh dear god, help me." Ayumu shakily breathed out, unable to remove himself from the blond latching onto him quite tightly. "K-kohinata-shi...hey, you're awake, right?" He began to suspect the light blond to be feigning unconscious after all.

Hozumi (who was actually awake for some time now) secretly smiled, 'It's about time you do something already, Ayumu-kun...' He chuckled lightly, "No..."

Ayumu let out a shocked gasp. Was Hozumi messing around with him? This called for...a revenge. "Knock it off... or else..."

Hozumi cutely peeked open his blue eyes, "Or else - what?"

"I - I...I'll attack y-you!" Ayumu, trying to keep a cool face, stuttered miserably instead.

"...please do." Hozumi gripped Ayumu's collar and pulled him down so that their lips meet. The two finally shared a soft, sweet kiss, symbolizing their mutual feelings for each other.

And that was the start of a new blooming love between Ayumu and Hozumi. (Cheesy as heck I know aha)

* * *

 _ **Honan Academy Cultural Festival Day**_

"Kyousukeeeee!" Smiling brightly, Tomoe flung himself into his silver-haired boyfriend's arms as soon as he spotted him from the terminal exit. "Oh my god, I missed you so much~" He openly kissed the other person by the mouth and pulled back with a wide grin.

"Tomoe... we're in public right now."

"So, what~ I wanna kiss you so I did!"

Kyousuke sighed. Nothing much had changed about the happygolucky raven-haired man. But, was it just him or did Tomoe seemed a lot more slimmer than before? "Hey... Tomoe, are you eating all right?" He brought his hands to wander around the returnee's face and then the boney shoulders.

"Ah... it's just a hassle to cook and y'know I'm not really fond of western food." Tomoe scratched his cheek sheepishly. "And I really really wanna taste your heavenly cooking right now! Ah, but not before I see Riku first!"

Kyousuke smiled and took Tomoe's left hand into his as they made way to the taxi pickup spot, "Set your priorities straight, will you?"

"Ehh~ but I love you both equally, how can I choose!" A pout visible on Tomoe's beautiful face. "Or maybe I love Riku a tiny bit more than you..?" He added jokingly.

"Don't make me leave you here..." Kyousuke looked a little envy but that ended up making Tomoe even more happy. He liked it when his long haired partner felt jealous over him.

"I'm just kidding. You're both irreplaceable to me, alright?" Tomoe seductively pecked his lover's cheek. "But don't worry, because tonight... I'm all yours." He whispered, too alluringly.

The silverhead nodded at last, "Better keep your word on that. Come on, I have a surprise for you as well." Kyousuke's expression softened when he saw how curious Tomoe looked. "Hold on a sec, what surprise?"

"You'll know when we get there."

* * *

Tomoe opened and closed his mouth like a typical goldfish, "What- Riku is doing what-?!" He was being particularly stealth around the food and attraction booths, careful not to be seen by his younger brother. He almost looked like a ninja, Kyousuke mused.

"Here, calm yourself down a bit." Kyousuke fed the piping hot takoyaki to the agitated raven-haired man. Tomoe gladly took a bite, savoring the explosive flavors contained in that small octopus ball. Japanese food were the best after all!

"B-but, a play? With that sneaky brat, Take-chan?" Tomoe felt strangely unsettled by that fact, but he was looking forward to see Riku's acting more and more. Since they were little, he used to read storybooks with young Riku all the time. And Riku would always act out some parts of the stories, he could be totally immersed in them at times. But then... but then, that rotten Fujiwara Takeru came and boldly snatched his dear little brother away from him. _Don't think I don't know how you feel towards Riku, shitty brat... if you want him, get over my dead body first!_

"Well, we better get going. First year plays are going to start soon." Kyousuke's voice remained cool but a naughty smirk evident on his lips. Tomoe sighed exaggeratedly, "You lil' jerk... You're secretly enjoying this, aren't ya?"

"Of course not..."

* * *

"Where's Riku?" Fujiwara, fully dressed in a complete Victorian prince attire, scanned the backstage for his little princess, nowhere in sight.

Nana, carrying a box full of props, laughed nervously, "He's in the changing room... he's been locking himself in there ever since we put the dress and makeup on him... Fujiwara-kun, please do something!"

Sasagawa Kayano, the director of the play, was banging the door to the changing room like a mad cow, "God dammit, Yagami! What the hell do you think you're doing?! Play's starting in five mins! Get your ass out of there NOW!"

A tiny voice replied from inside, "N-no! I look weird in this getup...so I quit!"

"What the fuck?!" The redhaired girl cursed in disbelief. "What bullsh-"

"Sasagawa-san, let me handle this." Fujiwara calmly approached the locked room.

"Ugh, go ahead then. I've been calling out to him for about fifteen minutes now." Kayano retreated and massaged her temples, feeling all worn-out before the play had even started.

"Riku... It's me, Takeru."

"...go away." Yagami replied, voice all shaky.

"It's our turn soon. You know we can't start the play without you." Fujiwara tried to coax the blond into coming out of the room.

However, Yagami wasn't called stubborn without a valid reason, "NO! I-I changed my mind. God, this is embarrassing after all..."

Fujiwara brought a bent finger to his mouth and lightly bit on it. No choice then. He'll have to use _that._ The raven inhaled slowly before asking, "Hey, Riku. You know what's more embarrassing? Remember what happen in the club room the other day..? I don't mind telling everyone if that's-"

Yagami immediately swung open the door and almost tackled the raven haired boy, looking very bright red in the face. "Y-you big idiot! That was unnecessary..!"

"Heh, gotcha." Fujiwara quickly held both of Yagami's wrists into an iron grip. When sapphire eyes traveled all over the blond, Fujiwara froze. And time stood still as he drank in all of Yagami's majestically dazzling appearance.

Yagami was wearing a fitted light blue dress with frilly top, the blue silk gown decorated with delicate lace and ribbon trim. His hair flowed down until his shoulders and was covered on one side with a sheer frill trimmed with matching blue ribbon knots. For the finishing touches, the blond wore a silver necklace with an oval sapphire stone and matching set of bracelets on each wrist.

"Go on and laugh! I look really weird, don't I..?" Deep red lips moved, rosy cheeks turned darker.

Fujiwara was rooted to his spot for another great while, unblinking eyes slowly crept up to the blond's face, dolled up by one of the girls who aspired to be a make up artist. Pastel blue eye shadow, mascara for perfect curled up eyelashes and soft pink blusher dusting the naturally blushed cheeks. Yagami didn't need layers of thick make up to beautify his already flawless face, the amount was just right to amplify his attractiveness by a thousand times.

"H-hey, say something!" Yagami tugged at his own wrists but made no real effort in actually breaking free from Fujiwara. He wanted nothing more than to dig a hole and hide in there for eternity.

A couple more minutes, and the raven-haired finally breathed out, "Riku, you look absolutely...gorgeous." He unconsciously reached out to one of the beetroot-colored cheeks and caressed it ever so gently.

"H-huh..?" Was all the blond could say. His heart started racing like a jet, so fast that Yagami feared it might explode. Why did Fujiwara's words and touches affect him this bad? Was he sick or something?

 _'I love you.'_

That strange dream popped into mind. No way! Yagami refused to believe such preposterous figment of imagination. Maybe he _was_ sick. He must have some undiscovered heart problems or the likes. Yeah, let's go with that-

"Ahem! That's enough flirting, you hopeless lovebirds! We're on stage now!" Kayano intervened, some of the female crews squealed in delight before scrambling to their positions; 'the love is REAL!', they thought giddily.

"Okay, everyone! Into your positions! Remember, go with the flow of the story and break a leg out there!" Kayano gave words of encouragement to the actors and actresses of their class and clapped her hands hard. "Cue in 3, 2, 1... _Action_!"

The lights dimmed. The chatters from the audience seats died down. And the curtains were raised.

Yagami felt like dying already.

 **To be continued...**

* * *

 **Hello again, my sweet peas~ again, pardon my extreme tardiness in updating but hey, I'm finally done with this chapter so give it a read and share some thoughts with me afterwards okay~ :3**

 **Yeah as some of you mentioned, Tomoe in this fic is a bit OOC (wait he's like the complete opposite from anime Tomoe but hopefully you guys like a cheery Tomoe better!)**

 **And I thought of including the play in this chapter but I'm so damn tired and I think I need a break before continuing... um, so enjoy! And thanks guys for leaving me the favs, reviews and for following this shitty fic of mine XD**

 **See y'all real soon! xoxo**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

'Why did I agree to this stupid role again?' Riku pondered for two seconds as the dark maroon curtains rolled up completely and bright spotlights hit his on-the-verge-of-crying face.

 _Why indeed?_

Takeru, standing beside him, smoothly brought the blond's ice cold hand to his mouth and kissed it afterwards whispering words of encouragement, "You can do it, Riku. I believe in you, my little princess..." Then, the raven-haired prince disappeared behind the stage before Riku could bark back with some nasty remarks.

"...! He - He's... definitely taking advantage of me..." Riku whimpered but as the lights concentrated on him alone, the blond immediately discarded all unnecessary emotions and at that time, he became one with his character, a beautiful princess living in the Victorian era, searching for her one and only true love.

Tomoe who was resting his head against Kyousuke's shoulder, slowly lifted his head and leaned forward in utter amazement. There he was. His little Riku all dolled up perfectly and was wearing a very lovely lacy blue dress, a color that suited him the most and it made his reddish brown eyes glowed even more under the dimmed theatre lights.

"Oh god.. Riku is so stunningly astonishingly incredibly beautiful..." Tomoe almost teared up, somehow he felt like a proud parent watching his child growing up to become such a beauty.

Kyousuke smiled along and snaked his arm around his lover's shoulders, "You do know he's a boy, right?"

The raven-haired automatically pinched Kyousuke's arm, "Oh shut up, Kyou~ My little Riku would always be the sweet angel he is, girl or boy." As he was about to turn his head to the front again, Tomoe saw a group of familiar faces sitting not far from them. They were Heath, Hozumi and a greenhaired bespectacled boy (he's guessing their new member after he went to the US). He noticed Kyousuke glancing at them a few times before the play begun and a sly smirk slowly crept across his face like a fly.

'I know you missed them and striding, so don't let your stupid ego get in the way, dummy.' Tomoe would make it right for the silverhead again. He must.

Then, his eyes caught a glimpse of another known face, his uncle, Minoru-ojiisan. The middle-aged man stood behind the backrow seats near the double doors, indifferently watching the play. Tomoe thought of waving to the man but the disturbing expression on the principal's face halted him from doing so.

'What is he looking at so intently..?' The raven traced back 's line of sight to see that he was in fact eyeing on Riku's elegant movements and graceful acts. Something about the way he stared at the blond sent goose pimples crawling all over Tomoe's skin. It didn't seemed like an ordinary look an uncle would give to his nephew. The man made an upward curve of the lips as he rubbed at them with his thick fingers before exiting through the double doors.

What the hell is going on here? Tomoe suddenly felt lightheaded, and sick to the core. Oh no, it's starting again...

"...moe... Tomoe..?" A low-key voice and a gentle touch to the hand woke him out of his reverie. Kyousuke was now supporting the back of the suddenly paled Tomoe, who was unconsciously bending down too much. "Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself somewhere?"

Dark eyes met lighter ones.

Tomoe honestly felt like crying when he saw the genuine concerned look in Kyousuke's eyes. He was so lucky to have such a caring and loving boyfriend like Kyousuke, it would sadden him deeply if they were to be separated so early in life, wouldn't it? Shaking off any more of those unpropitious thoughts, Tomoe gave a quick peck on the pink haired's lips in the dark, surprising Kyousuke this time. "I'm fine, Kyou. Thanks for asking~"

"Tomoe... not again..what if someone sees us?" Kyousuke narrowed his already slanted eyes but couldn't stay angry at his lover for too long. Tomoe was too damn precious for him to be mad at anyway.

The dark-haired faced forward again, trying to concentrate on his brother's splendid acting as Riku finally pricked his finger on the spindle of the enchanted spinning wheel and fell on the ground dramatically.

As Takeru finally entered the stage and the fighting scene between him and the witch turned dragon commenced, Tomoe became rather fidgety. The kissing scene between the prince and the slumbering princess... would there be one? But, they're both guys for god's sake! Tomoe contradicted and tried to deny any possibility of there being one - although he, himself had just kissed Kyousuke, a guy, a few minutes ago.

As they always say, 'better be safe than sorry', so I'm sorry Take-chan, but you won't be stealing Riku's precious lips. Not this time... Not ever!

Tomoe then secretly slipped away from his seat and when Kyousuke realised it, the raven was already long gone. Slumping back on his seat, the stoic looking man could only sigh wearily, hoping that bro-con boyfriend of his won't do anything stupid. Fat chance though.

* * *

At another seat, a few rows away from the silver-haired man, another male was also letting out a tired sigh. "God tell me, why did I decided to come with this idiotic slash hopelessly in love couple again?" Heath muttered to no one as he glanced to his left, two boys beside him were busy being smitten with each other, intertwining hands, dreamy gazes and smiles, shy cheek pecks and all the other stuffs a new couple were bound to experience. And it's happening right in front of the stride club captain. It's giving him the willies and Heath did not appreciate that.

First, it was Kyousuke with Tomoe, then Takeru with Riku (although it's not official yet) and now Ayumu with his little angel (devil?), Hozumi. The brunette was starting to feel left out for some reason. Being the only one without a lover of his own at his age when all the other people around him were all hooked up. Plus, realising every other member of the club (sans Nana of course) was gay didn't amuse him at all.

Muffled giggles from the two juniors of his made him cringed for god knows how many times now. Heath swore to god, he will find a guy - he meant girl! - to love for himself if it's the last thing he'll do.

* * *

Ayumu was currently on cloud nine. Well, he had been on one ever since the incident at the infirmary from the previous day. Where he and Hozumi had kissed and the timid boy finally confessed his love for the lithe blond. And he loved the way Hozumi's dazzling blue eyes sparkled and got all teary when he heard those three simple words 'I love you' from Ayumu.

And now there they were, sitting side by side in the darkened theatre, to watch Takeru and Riku's performance. Hozumi's warm hand bravely slipped into Ayumu's own, cold and clammy from nervousness. Of course, the green haired was super happy to be so close to his new boyfriend but he was also anxious and scared to take it up to the next level. With zero experience in love and dating whatsoever, Ayumu believed he had every right to feel insecure.

"Ayumu-kun, don't be so nervous, okay?" Hozumi chuckled softly before adding naughtily, "I won't bite, you know..."

"Kohinata-shi, that's - " Ayumu fumbled for the right words but Hozumi cut him short. "Call me by my first name."

"Eh..?"

"Please call me Hozumi, and I'll drop the 'kun' with you, is that a deal?"

"B-but!"

 _"Ayumu..."_

Hozumi almost pouted as he murmured the greenhead's name, light yellow eyebrows scrunched up in dissatisfaction. It was the 'stop giving me so many excuses' kind of look.

Ayumu almost died out of a mini heart attack because Hozumi was seriously so goddamn cute right now and he wanted nothing more than to give the shorter boy a bone crushing hug and press his lips against Hozumi's soft, pinkish ones as many times as he wished. If only he had the courage to do so.

"All right... Ho..Hozumi..." Ayumu whispered out, before turning bright red in the face in mere seconds. As cliché as it sounded, calling Hozumi by his first name was a lot more embarrassing than Ayumu'd imagined. It felt way more intimate than kissing or perhaps even skin to skin contact, ridiculous as it was. Like there's a special connection between them, their souls tied together by a strong and earnest love.

The straw haired boy couldn't suppress another giggle from escaping. Oh, his dear Ayumu was too precious and adorable for him to not try and tease a little bit. Hozumi adored the way Ayumu became all jittery and self-conscious around him as well as how he always clumsily expresses himself in front of the pale blond.

"I love you, Ayumu." Leaning on Ayumu's stiffened shoulder, Hozumi quietly said in addition with a mesmerizing smile for the round jade eyes to see.

Squeezing Hozumi's hand tight, Ayumu replied, a lot more confidently this time around. "And I love you too, Hozumi..."

* * *

'We're halfway done, I can't believe it...' Riku was now lying on the bed, pretending to be asleep as he waited for Takeru to come and give him the 'magical kiss'. Well, technically they won't actually do the kissing for real (he had freaked out when his classmates first suggested it) but Sasagawa-san had planned so that when spectating from the angle of the audience, it would seemed that way.

By that time, Takeru must have defeated the malicious dragon, judging by the mild clapping and cheering.

'Ah~ finally, the play's gonna end soon... hurry up, Fujiwara..!' Riku, eyes still closed, restlessly waited for the raven-haired boy, he wanted nothing more than to get out of that mortifying dress and maybe hit himself in the head so that hell wake up with an amnesia and forget every humiliation he had suffered.

Takeru slowly approached the sleeping beauty, momentarily mesmerised by Riku's serene sleeping face yet again. If only they weren't acting in front of so many people, if only they weren't in a play, and if only it was for real, Takeru would've long embrace the blond, kissing and ravishing him to his heart content.

Sitting by the bedside, Takeru bent closer to the blond to make it look as if they were actually kissing but not before he cheekily whispered, "I've come to steal your lips and heart, your highness~" He took the liberty of caressing Riku's smooth cheek and drawing some of the loose yellow strands to the back of the now reddened ear.

'What the fuck, Fujiwara?!'

Riku almost popped open his angry rustic eyes and was tempted to give the sneaky Takeru a good kick to the groin. "Hurry up and get this done with, you asshole..!" The blond whispered back through gritted teeth. 'Don't go testing my patience for too long, you perverted leg maniac...'

Takeru sniggered, he didn't want to bang Riku in front of the audience anyway. Riku's sexiness and those erotic faces or licentious sounds he made, they were something exclusively only for Takeru to see and hear, no one else.

"Not so fast, you fiend!"

The voice coming from behind Takeru effectively stopped him from closing in onto Riku's face. The prince slowly turned to his back to see a mysterious figure with a black cloak and eye mask facing him with a sword in hand (it was a fake one of course).

"And who might you be?" The raven went with his instinct and decided to play along. Kayano must be thinking the same thing, as Takeru eyed the big placard she held behind the curtains, 'IDK WHO THE FUCK THAT IS BUT TRY AND PLAY ALONG!' She had worked her ass off in making the play a big success after all, so she wasn't going to let everything go down the drain due to some unexpected interruptions.

"I'm her highness' true knight." The masked man answered before readying himself in a fighting stance, "You'll have to get through me first before taking away the princess..!"

Gasps and exclamations reverberated all around the spectators, baffled by the sudden development but they enjoyed it nonetheless. This was definitely not your usual Sleeping Beauty story! Some of them ever began cheering on for Takeru, "Kyaaa, oujisama, defeat him!", "Don't let him steal your princess!", "Do your best, prince!"

Meanwhile, Riku was bewildered and clueless as to what was going on at the moment. He heard a foreign voice speaking to Takeru, unrecognisable yet familiar. Was there a last minute change in the script that he didn't knew? Before he could open his eyes, Takeru whispered again, "Don't open your eyes yet, princess. I'll be right back for that kiss, don't you worry."

...huh?

The two began engaging into a battle of swords and the crowd went wild, some were chanting out Takeru's name, and some decided to side with the self-proclaimed knight of the princess.

W-what? Should he just go along with this? Riku contemplated for a while and decided to trust Takeru's words in the end. He's not risking getting his ears chew out by the demon of their director, Kayano. But, he felt quite unsettled somehow, the familiarity of the unknown male's voice nagged at him endlessly. Where? Where had he heard of such voice before?

 _Nostalgic._

Yes, that voice felt strangely nostalgic. Riku was now itching to find out who it belonged to. Succumbing to his curiosity, the fair blond peeked one eye open, and from the small crack of his eye, he could make out two figures clashing swords in a fiery battle; they were Fujiwara and another raven-haired guy whose face Riku couldn't see quite well adding the fact he wore a mask, as if to conceal his true identity.

Who..?

Riku stifled back a yawn. Great. Now he's starting to feel a bit drowsy. Hey, don't judge. It's hard not to fall asleep in a poorly lighted space, on a soft mattress and fluffy pillows with warm blankets, okay? Maybe... maybe he could take a short nap while those two fight. And thus, the blond began drifting off to sleep.

"Don't you dare try to kiss Riku's lips, shitty brat..!" The dark-haired man threatened the prince and swung his sword continuously.

 _What's his problem?_

Takeru remained unfazed as he countered every single attack before it could land on him but he admitted the other person was quite the athlete himself, having powerful swings and steady movements. However, the raven wasn't going to give up there. He'll kiss his dear princess even at the cost of his life!

Kayano took the chance to scribble on another placard with a black marker and held it up in her hands high behind the curtains, 'DEFEAT THE FUCKER AND KISS YAGAMI!' Takeru bit down a laugh when he saw this, Riku's totally not gonna be happy with this, he absent-mindedly thought.

"Can you afford to be spacing out now, Take-chan..!" Another vertical attack launched by the mysterious guy.

"...?!" Navy blue orbs widened in surprise as Takeru dodged the swift attack in the nick of time. That name! There were only two people who used to call him by that name. And they were the Yagami brothers; Riku and of course -

\- _Tomoe._

"Dammit. You're as slippery as an eel... just admit defeat already!" The masked man persistently attacked Takeru, trying to get him into a corner.

"Heh... I see, Tomoe-nii's brother complex wasn't cured after all these years~" Takeru grinned, cunningly and succeeded in catching the older male off guard before successfully striking the sword out of Tomoe's hand, leaving him bare. Cheers and whistles greeted Takeru's ears, as if celebrating his triumph over the masked man.

"Tch, don't get ahead of yourself, brat. I'll never allow - "

The lights went off all of a sudden, leaving the stage pitch black. "The fuck are you doin-" Mouth gagged and hands bound, Tomoe was unwillingly pulled to the backstage by two male crews, "Kayano said you can go on with the next scene when the lights are switched on again!" One of the boys informed the raven in a hushed manner. Takeru, albeit astounded at first, robotically nodded later.

In a few seconds, the stage lights came back on and Takeru was now sitting beside the blond who was sleeping for real. Chest moved up and down in a rhythmic pattern and Takeru found himself unable to tear his eyes away from such an bewitching-looking little angel. Staring at such a peaceful look on Riku's tired face got him wondered if this was the same boy who was heartlessly abused by his own uncle, related by blood.

 _You don't have to worry any longer, Riku-chan. I'll take you away from that wretched man's grasp. I'll definitely save you._

'Forgive me, Tomoe-nii. But, Riku's first kiss belongs to me now...' Takeru half-smiled as he leaned closer to the blond so that their faces were only centimeters away. Cupping the blond's smooth pink cheeks, Takeru brought his mouth to Riku's ear and softly, he whispered; "Please wake up, my sweet little princess..." He bent down even more until his lips touched Riku's, Takeru hesitated for a second but then he pressed his lips further, capturing the blond into a passionate yet gentle kiss.

Riku stirred a bit before fluttering his dark cherry eyes open and didn't get to react in time when he saw how close Takeru's face was, or how their lips were joined together. Oh, they were kissing...

.

.

.

...THEY WERE DOING WHAT?!

"Fu-fujiwara..! Wha-" Riku immediately tried to push Takeru away but the raven resisted and he rested his forehead against the blond's chest whose heart was now pumping harder and louder than normal. Inhaling Riku's fruity scent, Takeru calmly spoke sotto voce,

"I love you, Riku."

The blond became flummoxed, he was left aghast, rendered speechless upon hearing Takeru's words which oddly enough sounded like a love confession. "H-hey, you're taking the joke too far-"

"Riku, I love you. Not as the princess. Not as a friend. And definitely not as a family. I am truly, deeply in love with you. Okay?" Takeru conveyed his feelings once more, hoping to get across that thick skull of Riku's. He could no longer hold back this bottled up feeling he held towards his childhood friend for almost a decade now. Takeru needed Riku to know. And he was finally ready for his answer as well, be it acception or rejection.

Riku stared and stared at Takeru's face, the raven's every word, every syllable, every single character slowly seeping into his mind like slow-killing poison, silently paralysing his body and thoughts altogether.

 _I love you._

 _Not as a princess._

 _Not as friend._

 _And definitely not as a family._

 _I am truly, deeply in love with you._

 _I love you._

 _L-O-V-E._

 _Love..._

Fujiwara Takeru loved him..? _Him_ , a guy?

Riku couldn't breathe all of a sudden. He lost the ability to think or talk and his blushing mechanism stopped functioning normally. He must've looked like the reddest ripest tomato ever existed.

* * *

"What the fuck are they doing, lingering on top of each other like that?!" The furious Kayano almost bit her thumbnail off. It was one thing after another goddamnit! Why won't they let her direct a simple play in peace?!

Nana timidly approached the redhead (since everyone else was pretty much scared shitless), "Please calm down, Kayano-san. I'm sure everything-"

"I won't calm the fuck down until we close the goddamn curtains!" The female director shot back.

Nana immediately backed away, giving the snappy girl some space. 'Ahhh, what is it with you two and making Kayano-san mad all the time..?' She eyed the two boys from behind the curtains, and they remained unmoving much to her and everyone else's dismay.

* * *

"I... I...th-think..." Riku stuttered right away, he just didn't know where to begin. Give a reply? Confess his feelings? But, is it really love he felt towards Takeru? What if...what if it's dependency? What if it's just a sense of reliance? He shouldn't be answering Takeru's honest feelings half heartedly, he just couldn't bring himself to do that.

Takeru, being a courteous man he was, put a finger to the blond's mouth to say; "It's okay. You don't have to answer me now. I'll wait for you, mm-hm? No matter how long it takes, I'll wait."

Riku's heart skipped a beat at that.

"Now, let's wake the princess up properly before Sasagawa chop our heads off for real this time."

Riku instantly giggled, "...sure. And thanks, _Takeru_." For understanding. For always being there. And for loving me.

Takeru almost blushed when Riku called him by his given name for the first time ever. He didn't know he would be this happy over such a trivial thing.

With that settled, Takeru leaned downwards again before leaving a smooch on Riku's forehead and helped the blond up into a sitting position.

"Thus, the princess' curse was broken by the prince's kiss and they live happily ever after." The narrator finished up with the ending line and Kayano, finally freed of her misery commanded, "The lights and curtains..!"

The lights were switched off again and the curtains finally closed on them.

A thundering applause, and a standing ovation followed suit.

* * *

After the play ended, Riku quickly ran to the changing room to get out of the stuffy dress as soon as he could. By that time, Takeru was nowhere to be seen.

Closing the door behind him, Riku began taking off the accessories and make up, relieved of all the unnecessary weight again. Then, he tried to reach for the zipper at the backside of the dress but couldn't reach for it. "Damnit... just a lil' bit more..."

The door behind him was pushed ajar and Riku, thinking it was Takeru who entered, asked for his help. "Takeru, can you help me with the zipper? I can't reach it..." Riku pulled some of his yellow hair to the front, revealing his back to the other person.

A hand easily unzipped the dress for the blond before creeping around his waist into a backhug. "Hey, what're you-"

"Missed me?"

Riku swiftly jerked his head behind and what he saw next almost made him cry.

"T-Tomoe...?"

* * *

Takeru, still in his prince outfit, marched towards a certain place with a grim look on his handsome face. The principal's office.

"I'll make you regret for doing what you did to Riku, scumbag."

Arriving, the raven-haired boy turned the doorknob around without bothering to knock on the door first. The principal was sitting at his desk, a surprise look evident on his face at the younger male's sudden entrance.

"Evening, Mr. Principal. May I have a word with you?"

Mr. Yagami cocked one of his eyebrows, "And you are?"

"Just a humble knight." _Ready to kick your sorry ass..._ Takeru gripped both of his fists hard.

Let's do this.

 **To be continued...**

* * *

 **Hiya my dear lovelies~ apologies for the delayed update! (Please don't kill me~~~)** **Thanks a lot for the favs, follows and wonderful comments, they are my source of joy!** **As usual, please give it a read, and do leave some comments about it!**

 **Till then~**

 **Note: I'll be referring them by their first names now; Fujiwara to Takeru and Yagami to Riku to avoid confusion ;)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"T-Tomoe?"

"I'm back, Riku." Tomoe beamed widely.

"W-what do you mean 'I'm back'! Why didn't you tell me!" A teary-eyed Riku quickly spun around so that he was now facing his older brother and began hitting Tomoe's chest repeatedly. He was shocked. He was happy. He felt cheated somehow but he was honestly pleasantly relieved to see Tomoe's face once more. Tomoe was really there, standing right in front of him.

The raven looked a little remorsed and patted the blond's head affectionately afterwards. "Sorry Ricchan. I just wanted to surprise you, that's all. Don't be mad anymore, mm-hm?"

"Of course I'd be mad, you idiot! I missed you so so bad!" Riku said as he pulled the other man into a hug and buried his face into Tomoe's chest. "And welcome home, Tomoe...-nii." Riku added hesitantly but sincerely. His brother came back. Tomoe had come back to him.

A prickling sensation unexpectedly invaded his eyes and Tomoe finally realized he was crying as well. Returning the hug just as tight, he began peppering soft kisses on top of Riku's head. "Yeah, I missed you so damn much like 'you have no idea' so damn much."

And the two siblings stayed in the comfort of each other's arms for a while.

"...Tomoe..." Riku started.

"Yeah?"

"Tell me what are you doing in the changing room again..?"

"Why, helping my lil bro getting out of that stuffy dress, of course~ And I had great fun assisting you guys in the play!" Tomoe squeezed Riku's waist tighter amnd squealed excitedly. "You were so cute I could just die with a smile on my face~~"

"Ow, you're crushing me, idiot!" Riku bit down a whimper. Shit, the bruises. Tomoe didn't know. He shouldn't. Mustn't! Conceal, Riku, conceal it! The blond carefully wriggled his body a little so that his brother's hold on him would considerably loosen up.

Some parts of Tomoe's word caught Riku's attention. "Assisting? You mean..." Ah! The mysterious masked knight! "Oh." Was all the blond's respond. Riku wasn't all that surprised to be honest. Tomoe had always been one who does things his way and not others.

"And you're hurting my feelings~ why did you thought I was Take-chan just now?" The unaware Tomoe complained like a whiny five-year old boy, much to Riku's chagrin. "Neeee, why Take-chan? Why is ittttt" The older among the two brothers shamelessly rubbed his cheek against Riku's like an overly affectionate cat.

Riku, blushing so easily, could do nothing but fumbled his words out. "U-uh.. That's be-because we're co-actors! We're literally glued together just to practice out the lines from the script!" _Not really._ But it wasn't that far from the truth. Takeru wouldn't stop following him around like a lost little puppy but Riku definitely won't disclose that to Tomoe, his overprotective brother nonetheless.

"Hmm~? Riku really need to learn how to lie better." Tomoe snickered and then raised his eyebrows naughtily.

"Oh stop, Tomoe. And is it just me or did you lose a lot of weight since I last saw you?" Riku stared at his brother's face with great concern and gently brought his hand to the thin high cheekbone. "Did you eat properly while you were there? Did you even cooked for yourself?" The black-haired man really did looked thinner and somewhat more boney than he used to be.

"Why did both you and Kyou asked the same thing again?" Tomoe effortlessly laughed in remembrance. It felt good to be cared for. Especially by his two most special persons in the world. "Yeah, of course I did. So, don't worry about it, okay?" He reassured, weakly grasping Riku's hand into his own.

"Kuga-senpai? You're still seeing him, aren't you?" Riku eyed the raven suspiciously. Did his brother knew how much Heath-senpai was suffering due to Kuga-senpai's stubbornness?

Tomoe nodded, words were simply not needed to know what was going on in that pretty yellow head of Riku's. "I know, Riku. And I planned to get him back to striding again, no matter what it takes."

At the dark haired words, Riku's face turned morose. "I don't want your relationship with him to be affected because of this though. Just leave it to us, Tomoe." Riku was certain that with his, Takeru's and the rest of the members' determinations, Kuga-senpai would definitely come back. They just need to come up with a great plan to somehow convince the silver haired man.

"My relationship with Kyou won't simply be ruined by some petty misunderstandings, silly~" Tomoe made a pouty face and momentarily pulled back from their embrace. "Now, let's get you out of that gorgeous dress, shall we? Turn around so I can pull the zip all the way down."

The blond instantly paled at the suggestion. Tomoe unzipping his dress equals to seeing his bruised plus patches of bandages on his body equals to overprotective brother complex mode on equals to absolute chaos and blood and war and all those unspeakable things that could possibly lead to an apocalypse. At that moment, Riku came down with a clear-cut conclusion; Tomoe mustn't see his naked body at all costs.

"T-tomoe, stop treating me like a four year old kid. I can undress myself so go wait outside!" _Please._ Riku screeched, unconsciously covering his chest area (wait, he had no boobs!). He intended to sound more angrier but his voice came out much softer and high-pitched than he thought and it sounded like an embarrassed teenage girl trying to chase her doting mother out of her room. _Ahh, what the hell am I doing with my life right now._

Tomoe was just about to retort back when his vision suddenly became blurry and he staggered to the nearest wall for support.

 _Goddammit, not again... Just this time, please hold on..._

Swaying a bit, Tomoe winked and flashed a toothy grin before he willingly exited the room on his own, trying very hard to appear normal in front of Riku. "Aw, my Riku's all grown up now~ Now, don't take too long or else I'm coming in there again!"

Riku, who didn't noticed Tomoe's sluggish movements, stuck his tongue out childishly as he waved the man off. "Not if I don't let you, you big pervert~" Then he shut the door close, locking it afterwards. The blond heaved a sigh of relief, thankful to be rid of Tomoe from the room. His secret was safe for now.

As soon as Riku closed the door, Tomoe slipped down to the ground with his back against the stage wall. Damn, he felt lightheaded and even started seeing black spots. _This is not good_. But at least Riku didn't suspect anything yet. His secret was safe for now.

* * *

"And you are?" The principal asked, cocking one of his eyebrow with a boring look an inattentive parent would give to his child.

"Just a humble knight..." Takeru walked closer to the principal's desk and sat on a chair opposite of without waiting to be invited. The other man was quite taken aback but said nothing.

"A rude young man, you are. Don't tell me, you're one of Riku 'striding' friends? What do you kids see in that useless sport anyway?" Riku's uncle spat the word 'striding' almost as if it was some kind of dirty infectious disease. He was belittling the sport they put all of their effort and souls into, like a despicable man Takeru thought he was.

 _Striding is useless?_ Takeru snorted in disgust as he scrutinized the gray haired man. _Says the man with a pot belly and flabby arms._ "...Mr. Principal, are you fond of...violence?" The raven cast a good look around the room until his eyes fell unto a framed picture of a young woman, who resembled a lot like Riku.

No way... Was that Riku's mother..? This man.. could he actually- He got it. _He got it now._

's demeanour changed drastically, his face contorted into a mixture of vexation, displeasure and agitation altogether. "What do you mean by that, boy?" He said through gritted teeth, outwardly seething in pure rage.

"Ha! Touched a sensitive nerve did I? Is abusing _that_ fun?" Takeru taunted with a snigger. _That's right, go ahead and get angry, hypocritical bastard. Show me your true colors, you beast._

"Shut your damn mouth..!" Mr. Yagami brought a hand to his head and shakily combed through his thin hair, he seemed restless all of a sudden. And Takeru relished. "Brats these days are so irritable... so did that brat Riku rattle everything out to you, like an ungrateful little shit he is?" A wide, overstretched smile creepily crept across the principal's face and Takeru shuddered at such sight. And what did he just called Riku..?

"And no no, I don't think of it as abusing, I prefer to use the term _education_." He smiled coyly and felt around his stubble with his thumb and index finger.

 _Screw your 'education'._

"You're a psycho." Takeru breathed out, looking as if someone had just slapped him hard across the cheek, horrified and appalled. He was trembling now, shaking with an immeasurable wrath, aching to beat the sick man into a pulp but the thought of his beautiful Riku prevented him from acting so rashly. It was just a matter of time though. "You should stop this while you still can... Riku loves you, sick in the head or not." _You're his family after all..!_

" _Love?_ That boy doesn't love me, he _**fears**_ me, just like he should. Ahhhh, that beautiful scream.. that agonizing expression... when I imagined Risako showing me such a face, I can't stop. He looked so damn much like her, that's why." hunched over and chuckled lightly, his hand now digging through the scalp of his head. "So I use him as a substitution. He's just a worthless little bitch anyway."

That was the last straw. 's mockery and degenerating words towards Riku had Takeru snapped completely. Moving lightning fast, Takeru pounced on the unsuspecting man, punching him hard in the face and they both toppled to the floor with the raven on top. "Take that back, you swine..!" He snarled angrily. "Don't you dare talk about Riku that way!"

The man made a weird noise that sounded like half grunting, half chortling further fueling Takeru's anger.

"I thought of having a nice and slow talk with you but in the end my words aren't getting through that sick mind of yours, you're lesser than a degrading abusive piece of shit who doesn't even deserve a place in this world...you fucking asshole..!" Takeru gripped the man's collar harder until the older man almost choked, he was enraged at the moment and all he could see was red. It took every last of his fiber to fight the urge to kill the disgusting old man right there, right now. Asphyxiation. Choking to death? He's unworthy of dying such a simple death..! He should be shot dead, ran over by a truck, or even burned to death and have his remains fed to the dogs, this lowly scum!

Mr. Yagami, on the other hand, showed no remorse whatsoever. Instead, he started laughing, cackling maniacally before he leveled his gaze into Takeru's steely blue eyes. "Riku is MY family. So I get to do whatever I want with him and you have NO right to question my way of disciplining him."

Disciplining...? All those bruises and cuts on Riku's frail body were the end products of him getting disciplined..?

The principal was insane.

" _Disciplining_ him?! Does beating your own nephew until he's all black and blue considered as disciplining?! Does breaking his mind your way of taming him?! You sick bastard!" Takeru landed another punch to the face flaunting that crooked smile. And another one. And another. Until his hands bled and bruised. Or was it actually from the face? But he wasn't satisfied just yet. Hardly. Not until he kill this retarded motherfu-

"FUJIWARA STOP WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

The last few things Takeru could remember were staring at his bloody fists, the principal's fucked up face, Heath restraining both of his arms, Ayumu literally hugging his waist and Hozumi standing in between him and the wounded man.

"T-Takerun... I thought it was strange when I saw you entering the principal's office but what just...?" Hozumi's voice shook, and he was on the verge of crying as he stared at Takeru's grim face.

Ayumu tightened his hold around the first year's waist. "Fujiwara-kun, th-that's enough, o-okay?" While Heath loosened his grip around Takeru's trembling shoulders. "What the hell is going on here?" He looked just as confused as the other two second years.

 _Riku... You don't deserve all that suffering.. And this heartless bastard definitely doesn't deserve you..!_

Takeru could feel his heart slowly shattered by an unsuppressed force and it broke into thousand of tiny little pieces. Regret. A thousand regrets. He shouldn't have left him! He should've been there for him when he needed him the most! If only he stayed by his side, none of this mess would've happened.

Overwhelmed by guilt, despair and self-hatred, Takeru covered his face and weeped as his thoughts wandered to a certain blond.

Meanwhile, the principal stood up on his feet and wiped his bloody nose with the back of his hand. Staring down at the crying raven with full authority, he mercilessly said, "For committing an act of violence to a school staff, I hereby expel you from this school."

Takeru didn't even flinched. He became numb of all emotions at that instant and all of his tears immediately dried up. He didn't care about some stupid expulsion. He didn't care about school anymore. Except for one thing: "I'll bring you down, even if I have to drag you to hell with me, I swear."

And his three horrified seniors could only stare at him and each other in bewilderment.

* * *

Inside the locked room, Riku carefully, slowly slipped out of the blue frilly dress before he noticed a small spot of red staining the bandage around his abdomen. Man, his wound must've reopened when Tomoe gave him that bone-crushing hug just now. "Takeru would be so pissed if he knew..."

Just then, Riku accidentally pricked his finger with a gold brooch decorating his dress. "Ouch..!" A ruby red dot formed on his index finger from the cut. And he was suddenly terrorized by an ominous feeling. Riku didn't know what it was but he could tell something bad was going to take place real soon. Come to think of it, where did Takeru go? He quickly buttoned up his white t-shirt and put on his black pants. Guess he'll find that leg maniac while he's at it.

"Tomoe, I'm done. Let's go!" Riku exited the changing room wearing his school uniform. The blond wandered his rustic eyes around the darkened backstage when Tomoe didn't reply to him and found no trace of him anywhere. Did he ran off to somewhere as well? Were they playing hide and seek with him as the seeker?

"Tomoe? Tomoe, where are you?" Riku searched around and saw Nana retaping some boxes at one corner. Most of the backstage crews had gone home with few remaining to clean up.

"Sakurai-san, have you seen Ta- um, Fujiwara or a lanky black-haired man?"

"Ah, Yagami-kun. Oh, I saw Fujiwara-kun left the stage right after the play. But I'm not sure about the other man you mentioned..." The twin tailed girl made an apologetic expression, in which Riku replied with a reassuring smile, "Thanks, Sakurai-san! I'll try searching around one more time, don't worry."

So, the blond made way to the huge curtains draped over the stage and reached out to look behind them.

"Are you still back here, To-" Kyousuke suddenly appeared from behind the large maroon curtains and both him and Riku froze when they spotted each other.

"Kuga-senpai... hello. Are you looking for Tomoe as well?" Riku gave a small polite bow to the silver haired man. He didn't knew his long-haired senior that well but even Heath-senpai looked up to him greatly so perhaps he couldn't be such a bad person after all.

"Yeah, so you meet up with him already, huh? That brocon idiot always does things at his own pace, doesn't he?" Kyousuke sighed in exhaustion but Riku could somehow detect a small smile on the stoic man's face.

"Yeah, he does. Same goes to you though. Must be hard to have such a high maintenance boyfriend, Kuga-senpai. I feel like I have to apologise on Tomoe's behalf instead." Riku lightly joked and the silverette's smile stretched wider. Riku and Tomoe didn't look alike at all. But if there's one thing that made them so similar, it's their headstrong personality. Both could be pretty stubborn once they made up their minds.

"Were you searching for Tomoe too?" Riku asked.

"Too? You mean..." Kyousuke trailed off.

"Yeah, he disappeared as soon as I'm done changing. He's not picking up his phone either." Riku ended up sighing as well. Tomoe made him feel like he was the older brother instead, maybe that should've been the case. "Shall we search for him together, senpai?" Riku offered.

Kyousuke readily nodded. "Sure."

The two of them simultaneously said, "Wanna go through the backdoor?" And then they bobbed their heads in agreement.

Something urged them to and they've never been as glad plus shocked as they were when Kyousuke twisted the doorknob and opened it. Tomoe was there, lying on the floor. Unconscious.

"Tomoe!?"

 **To be continued...**

* * *

 **Hello everyone! I've somehow managed to finish up this chapter (how was it even possible) so I thought of posting it up before I stop writing for a while. My final exams are coming soon and I'll be done by mid May. So I'll be on hiatus until then.**

 **Thank you so much for the favs, follows and reviews! Hope to see you guys soon. :)**

 **P.S. This chapter is so crappy somehow? Ahhh I'm sorry~ *is dying from stress atm***


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

He remembered weakly fluttering his eyes open to Riku's red face, wet with tears and snot, his once bright rustic eyes looked terrified, his light yellow eyebrows scrunched up worriedly and the desperation in his cracked voice evident as he repeatedly muttered 'Tomoe, Tomoe', over and over again, like a broken record. At his younger brother's side was another figure he was overly familiar with.

The love of his life, Kyousuke. But, compared to Riku's apparent sobs and sniffles, Kyou was much more calmer, although his face at that moment betrayed his usual aloof and indifferent disposition. He was frowning deeply, his attention never left Tomoe's face and the raven could detect a hint of regret mixed with despair in those morose grey eyes.

Within seconds, other sounds became more and more prominent as he felt his body being lifted onto a stretcher and into the emergency white vehicle; blaring sirens of the ambulance, beeping noises of a machine, multiple voices talking at the same time, revving engines and screeching tyres as they sped towards a definite destination; the hospital.

 _I'm sorry. I didn't mean to keep it a secret. I'm so sorry..._

Tomoe gave Riku a light squeeze to the hand intertwined with his, indiscreetly murmuring "S-sorry..." before he passed out once more.

And Riku started sobbing loudly as he followed the medical officers carrying Tomoe into the ambulance, securing him on a makeshift bed with Kyousuke following closely behind.

"Yagami..." Kyousuke started as he side glanced to the younger boy beside him in the ambulance, who was now silently crying while holding on tight to Tomoe's boney hand. The blond looked so frail and lost right now that the silverette couldn't help but want to support him, in place of his older brother. He brought his right hand to the blond's head and gently tilted it so that Riku was now leaning on his shoulder. "It'll be alright, it'll be just fine so don't worry..." His hand automatically stroke through the soft yellow tresses of Riku's, and he noticed how the blond's tensed shoulders gradually loosened up. Good, he thought.

"K-kuga-senpai... My brother... Tomoe, he'll be okay, right?" Riku whimpered, the thought of losing his brother forever scared him endlessly. All of a sudden, he felt suffocated, as if someone went and brutally crushed his lungs to the point where he can't even breathe anymore. Another raven-haired boy came into mind. Fujiwara Takeru. His childhood friend. His classmate. His teammate. The one guy who daringly confessed his love for him.

Riku didn't understand why he thought of his childhood friend when he did. All he knew was he needed him so bad right now. Takeru's magic touches that never fail to soothe his unsettled heart. Takeru's kind words that never failed to calm his troubled mind.

The blond was pulled back from his trance when he felt a small pressure on his hand holding Tomoe's. Could it be that Tomoe was actually..? Was he too, trying to comfort Riku even in his unconscious state? Riku's eyes stung once more, the tears threatening to come out any second the more he thought of every possibility that could be Tomoe's condition.

 _You can't die. You can't leave me alone. Please, Tomoe._

"...he'll be alright for sure. After all, Tomoe's the strongest person I've ever known." Kyousuke quietly replied after an interval, hoping he won't be proven wrong this time.

And Riku nodded mechanically in the end, he simply didn't know what else to do. Hearing Kuga-senpai's statement somewhat reassured him a little but the feeling of being left behind kept on haunting him, more so now that he truly felt as if everyone was leaving him all alone again.

* * *

"Mind explaining what the hell is going on, Fujiwara?" Heath demanded, looking very grim in the face. What had his two juniors been hiding from him and the rest of the team? "I don't appreciate you keeping secrets from us, especially when it involved the principal himself!"

Takeru stared right through his captain, he was overwhelmed with an unspeakable wrath still, but even he himself knew nothing would change the fact that he was utterly powerless against the older man just now.

"Heath-kun, please calm down. I'm sure Takerun has a very good reason behind it all, right?" The softspoken Hozumi intervened, hoping to dispel some of the tension amongst them.

"L-let's all be reasonable now, okay?" Ayumu timidly added from behind his new boyfriend.

Heath roughly exhaled, "Well, I'm listening." And the other two second years stared expectantly at their younger teammate.

"Looks like the cat's out of the bag, huh?" Takeru sighed, and leaned against the wall. _I'm sorry, Riku._

"Truth is... Riku... He's been abused by his uncle."

 _"...what?"_

"I found out only recently myself but that basta - that degraded man had been using violence against Riku ever since his parents' deaths, threatening him using his brother, Tomoe-san."

"What kind of lie are you trying to pull, Fujiwara?" Heath snapped at the dark haired teen, every word that came out of Takeru's mouth seemed absurd if not downright impossible. It's the principal they're talking about here!

"WHAT? Hasekura-senpai, I AM NOT LYING!" Takeru exclaimed, baffled by Heath's decision to not believe him. He would never, _EVER_ lie or make up stories when it comes to Riku!

Vzzt.. vzzt.. vzzt..vzzt..

"Your phone's vibrating, Takerun." Hozumi pointed out as he stoof between the two before they start a mini war. "It could be important so why don't you pick it up?"

"...Who's it from?" Heath asked, still unconvinced by the raven's story. He strongly believed that Fujiwara simply had a huge misunderstanding regarding Riku and his uncle's relationship.

"...Riku." Fujiwara hotly breathed out and quickly accepted the call.

* * *

"Are you Yagami Tomoe's relative?" A middle aged man wearing a white coat approached both Riku and Kyousuke with a notepad in hand.

"I am. I'm his brother." Riku nodded weakly, his eyes were red from crying too much.

"And you are?" The white coat man glanced at Kyousuke.

"I'm his cousin. Could you possibly be the doctor?" Kyousuke smoothly lied and directed another question to the man.

"Yes, I am Dr. Kawamura. Mind if I have a word with the two of you?" The doctor solemnly asked with a sympathetic look on his face.

At that particular moment, both Riku and Kyousuke immediately sensed what was coming next.

The male doctor purposely cleared his throat, "I'm afraid I have bad news for you. Yagami Tomoe has been diagnosed with..."

* * *

"You should go home for now, Ya-...Riku." Kyousuke said, feeling somewhat responsible for Riku's well being and education. He always thought of the blond as his own younger brother. He had a lot of siblings back at home, maybe that's why he couldn't help but try to be a good older brother to the younger male since Riku reminded him of his younger brothers so much. "You haven't eaten or taken a shower ever since you came here, didn't you? I'll keep a lookout for Tomoe for now, so don't worry."

"H-home...?" Riku looked hurt at the word, as if someone had slapped him hard across the cheek. "There is no home without Tomoe... I d-don't want to leave him."

"At least you should tell your uncle. Don't you think he deserves to know about Tomoe's... condition?" Kyousuke asked, struggling a little with the last word as he still couldn't really believe the painful news, and noted how pale Riku's face was at his suggestion. "Is there something wrong?"

That's right. Tomoe didn't know the truth about their uncle so of course the same applied to Kuga-senpai as well.

"N-no, it's nothing. You're right, I'll go call him now..." Riku vigorously shook his head with a forced smile, grabbed his phone and stormed out of the room before the silver haired could say anything else. Shit, shit, shit. He forgot all about his uncle! That man would definitely slaughter him alive as soon as Riku contact him.

Anxiously scrolling down the names in his contact list, Riku silently prayed that his uncle would miraculously be kinder to him just that one night. Suddenly, his eyes caught the name of a certain dark-haired boy in which Riku definitely won't admit missing with all his heart.

 _Fujiwara Takeru_

Gulping on air, Riku carefully tapped on to the name with a shaky finger.

 _Call?_

"Come on, don't chicken out now, Riku!" The blond took in few more deep breaths in order to calm himself down. He'll be alright. And Takeru would always be the best option to call by a hundred thousand-fold instead of an emotionally unstable psychotic uncle with a lot of pent up frustration and having the worst parenting skills ever in the history of parenting.

After one last exhalation, Riku lightly tapped the 'Call' icon. "Here goes nothing..."

Trrt...trrt...trrt...trrt...

 _Click!_

"Hey, Riku... Are you..are you alright?" Takeru's voice sounded strained and exhausted somehow but the pain accumulating in Riku's chest finally broke free and he couldn't stop himself from crying on the spot.

"Takeru, it's horrible! Just now- I was- backstage- then Tomoe-! He-!" Riku immediately broke down into small sobs and whimpers as soon as he heard Takeru speaking from the other end of the line. "Help me..! I can't lose him too- I can't-" More sobs followed suit.

"Riku? Riku, are you alright? What happened? Are you hurt? Did that old man hurt you?!" The clueless Takeru bombarded the weeping teen with multiple questions at once, his voice now filled with nothing but genuine concern and worry for the blond. "Tell me where you are! I'm coming to you now..!"

"N-no, I'm o-okay. I'm fi-fine..! B..but.." Yagami laughed bitterly through his tears at the irony of it all. Takeru, who was not connected to him by blood, was sincerely concerned for his well being more than his uncle would ever be. Breathing out a few times, Riku finally spoke clearly, "I'm at the hospital. Tomoe's been hospitalised. He-"

.

.

.

"Look who we have here."

The startled Riku jumped a little and quickly spun around only to see the face of the last person on earth he didn't expected nor wanted to see.

"Un-uncle?! Ah-"

The line went dead seconds later. Takeru's heart was now beating loudly against his ribcage, ready to jump out of his chest anytime soon. What the hell just happened? Did Riku just said uncle? That fucking bastard's with Riku right now?

"What happened?!" Both Ayumu and Hozumi chorused, panic evident in their voices.

"Shit..! The call got disconnected!" Takeru redialled the number but alas it was to no avail, his call was sent directly to the mailbox and he reluctantly gave up after a few more times. "Goddammit, Riku, get away from that bastard..!"

"C-calm down, Fujiwara! W-w-what happened to Yagami?" The greenhead said, although he wasn't the slightest calm himself.

"Riku's at the hospital... And the principal is there with him!" Takeru fisted the wall behind him hard. How could he'd been so careless?! He should've ran to the blond straightaway!

"WHAT?!" All three of his seniors simultaneously vociferated in disbelief.

"Then, what are we waiting for? Rikkun needs us!" Hozumi was the first to leap off his seat and was ready on his feet, pulling the stupefied brunette up. "Get up, Heath-kun!"

"So, the principal really did..?"

"Worry about that later, Hasekura-shi! Our priority right now should be saving Yagami!" Ayumu hastily cut the brunette off as he pulled him up along with Hozumi.

"And you too, Takerun, please snap out of it!" Hozumi then gripped on Takeru's shoulder hard, bringing the raven back to reality. "I-I am."

"Let's... let's take the cab!" Heath suggested, finally shaking himself out of his shocked trance.

And the four of them dashed to the nearest taxi pickup location with one destination in mind; the hospital.

* * *

"Uncle... wh-what are you doing here? What happened to y-your face..?" Riku retreated away from the older man as he wiped his residual tears with his sleeve and couldn't help but notice his uncle's now swollen face covered in bandages.

"Why don't you ask that cunning little blackhaired friend of yours?" Mr. Yagami asked back, looking very peeved as he recalled the short confrontation he had with Takeru. He should've landed a hit or two on the obnoxious boy, student or not.

 _'Black-haired... Friend..? Did he meant... Takeru?!'_

Russet eyes grew an inch wider. What have Takeru done to his uncle? But, why - why did he felt oddly satisfied with the outcome even though he know fully well the consequences following any action of defying the older man?

"I thought I must be imagining things when I saw you going through the stairs just now... I'm glad I did followed you." His uncle's smirk stretched more and more by the minute. "What are you doing here, Riku? Do you know what time it is now?" The man stared patronisingly at the younger boy.

Riku swallowed nervously, "It's...none of your business."

Mr. Yagami raised an inquisitive eyebrow, "Oh? Are you _trying_ to defy me, Riku? Don't you care whatever happens to your beloved brother anymore?"

"I-I'm not afraid of you! And I won't ever let you hurt Tomoe! You can't threaten me anymore!" Riku boldly shouted back, he no longer had the reason to feel such pathetic emotion for the older man. He had been protecting Tomoe all this time from his uncle's evil clutches, been beaten like a living punching bag for months now, and he had been enduring those degrading words and mockery for so long. He could definitely handle another beating, no problem. Because he no longer felt alone and isolated, he had true friends he could rely on now and also his precious brother who might be fighting for his life as they speak at the moment.

"Where did you learn such impudence?! From that same rude friend of yours, huh?!" Another backslap hit Riku's swollen cheek and the poor boy stumbled backwards against the diamond-shaped railings. "You should be thankful I even allowed you to stay alive, when I could just leave you in the gutters to rot away like the useless piece of shit you are!" Mr. Yagami spat more demeaning insults accompanied by more unrestrained slaps and thrashing kicks to the blond's abdomen until he actually coughed up blood.

"Hnn..." A weak moan escaped Riku's lips, a stabbing pain attacked his abdomen and he was pretty sure some of his ribs had fractured from the assaults.

Seeing Riku in his vulnerable state stirred a new emotion in the heartless man as he recalled watching his nephew cross dressing and acting in the play. "Why, yes... If I can't have Risako... I can always have a taste of _you_." Two pools of black eyes filled with nothing but lust and a disgusting yearning for the blond, thin nicotined lips forming the eeriest smile Riku had ever seen.

And for the first time, Riku experienced true terror sprouting from his heart. It branched out throughout his entire system and from there, he began to tremble uncontrollably, his dilated rustic eyes starting to accumulate panicky tears as he shrunk further against the railing, wishing it would just swallow him up. "Please uncle... _don't_."

"Shh, don't be afraid now, my dear nephew..." Mr. Yagami seemed terrifyingly gentle for once, but instead of relief, Riku felt incredibly repulsed if not scared to the bones. "I'll be gentle..." Large clammy hands shoved him down to the ground and Riku started crying helplessly, too overwhelmed by fear to even retaliate or fight back. To make matters worst, he was heavily injured to even move properly; one wrong move and he might just bleed to death.

The gray haired man roughly locked Riku's hands above his head before ripping the front of his shirt by force.

"L-let go of me..!" Riku continued squirming under the disgustingly perverted man and yelped in surprise soon as he felt something warm and wet trailing along his exposed neck.

"No, no, NO! I don't want to! Please, stop!" The blond flailed around agitatedly, not wanting to be devoured by the other man who to him, wasn't any different than a predatory wolf.

 _ **SLAP!**_

"I said SHUT UP!" Mr. Yagami furiously hissed after giving a brain-rattling slap to the unprepared Riku, who turned mute at that instance. "...!"

"Heh! That's better..." The man grunted in satisfaction before dunking his head lower to lick the pale white chest, flicking the pink nipples with his tongue until they became hard and bruised. He was beyond aroused at that point, playing with his nephew's chest surprisingly made him hard from the sinful incestuous pleasure.

Riku, on the other hand, was close to throwing up as his uncle sank teeth to his skin and teased his nipples with a slimy tongue. "A-ah! N-no..! It's disgusting..! St..stop it-!" All that while, Riku continuously chanted Takeru's name in his mind over and over again, hoping the real Takeru would come and end his nightmarish misery.

 _Takeru, please save me-!_

"LET HIM GO, YOU SICK FUCKER!"

One second later, someone roughly tackled his uncle, effectively pushing him out of the way and the two of them then hovered dangerously near the metal railings.

"Ta..Takeru...?" Riku blinked in bewilderment as he witnessed his childhood friend now battling with his uncle. He's here! The real Takeru really did came for him!

"WATCH OUT!" The blond shouted, frantically reaching out for his friend when the railing broke, and along with Takeru fell down, but Riku managed to grab hold of Takeru's hand in the nick of time. Unfortunately with his uncle clutching tightly to Takeru's left leg, the weight of two men became a bit unbearable for the injured blond.

"Agh!"

"Ri...Riku..." Takeru looked upwards to see a panic if not crying Riku, holding unto him tightly.

"D-don't let go..! Please..." Riku pleaded, all the while wincing in pain. "Un-uncle, you too... I'll get the two of you up now.."

"It's fine..Riku.. let go of my hand." Takeru said not long after. "I don't want you to fall as well..."

"NO! Stop that! I can do this-"

"But, you're bleeding!"

"I said it's fine!"

Just then, Takeru noticed how the older man was slowly slipping from his leg. "Don't-" He was just a second too late to catch the fallen man.

Unbeknowst to them, Mr. Yagami willingly release his hold on the raven.

"UNCLE, NO-!" Riku managed to catch a glimpse of his uncle's face, who mouthed his final words to the blond.

 _'I'm sorry.'_

"Aaaahhhh-!"

The man sadly fell to his death.

.

.

.

"D-don't let go of my hand...! Don't you dare-..!" Riku warned and tightened his grip on Takeru's hand, but was obviously pained by his own action as he could feel the other's weight further crushing his broken ribs.

Takeru gritted his teeth as he felt red liquid dripping from Riku's arm onto his face. "You idiot! You're gonna lose an arm at this point! Just let go of me!"

"S-Shut up! You don't get to leave me again, you hear me?! Please, Takeru, hold on... I-I'll pull you up even if I have to lose both of my arms!" Cried Riku, suddenly filled with new determination, he swiftly grabbed onto the raven with both hands before hoisting him up through sheer force.

"Ta-Ta...Takeru..." Riku, trembling from head to toe, buried his face onto the raven's chest, "I was- I was...so scared..! He tried to- tried to...! If you had fallen ju-just now- I- I would've-" The terribly shaken up blond could only form incoherent sentences as Takeru squeezed him tighter, closer to himself. And Riku began bawling like a child, a range of emotions such as relief, lingering fear and post-shock, all of them broke free out of the blonde at the same time and he would've enter a state of convulsions if it weren't for the raven calming him down.

"It's alright now, Riku... I got you.. I got you so you're safe now." Takeru gently said, however unable to contain his own tears, pearly teardrops fell one by one from lazuli eyes and very soon both of them silently sat in each other's embrace with dampened shoulders.

"Cry as much as you want, Riku. I'm here for you. And I won't ever leave you again, I promise." The raven vowed, peppering the top of Riku's head with soft kisses, his right hand occasionally rubbed small circles behind the shaky back as Riku let all of his tears out.

The last time he ever cried this hard was during his parents' funeral. He lost another family member yet again, but ironically he regained his own freedom back.

And the next thing he remembered was falling asleep in Takeru's arms, multiple voices that sounded like his other teammates resounded from behind him.

 _ **To be continued...**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **Preview:**_

 _"I'll do the bone marrow transplant." Takeru offered, and everyone else stared at him in a shocked silence. "Me and Tomoe-nii had the same blood type after all." The raven played a bit with the blond's messy fringes, who was sound asleep from the meds._

 _"Takerun, are you sure..?"_

 _"There's nothing left to discuss, Kohinata-senpai."_

 _"You know you don't have to do this, right?" Heath quietly said, his face frozen from any emotion._

 _"Of course, Hasekura-senpai."_

 _Meanwhile, Nana and Ayumu said nothing but worry and anxiousness apparent on their serious faces._

 _Takeru then looked at everyone in the room before giving his final saying, "I'll still do it."_

 _He'd do anything, anything at all to keep Riku happy. And he certainly won't allow the wounded blond go through the transplant himself._

 _It's better this way._

 _Kyousuke seemed torn between guilt and gratified. "Thank you, Fujiwara. I can never express my gratitude well enough." The silverette sincerely bowed to the raven, a mixture of emotions welling inside of him that the man could just break down and start weeping like a child._

 _ **-meow? :3-**_

* * *

 **Okay I swear I didn't mean to kill the uncle off (or did I?) Anyway! I know I've been gone for so long so here's an extra long chapter from yours truly~ but everyone is so damn miserable in this chapter somehow? (I know, I know) I'll definitely make up for this with some fluffs and *coughs* more takeriku smut *coughs* in the next one! ;D**

 **Thanks guys, for sticking with me and this crappy fic from the beginning... :') I'll wrap this story up in a couple more chapters okay? *okay stfu now, me* Toodles~ xxx**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Takeru stared at Riku's sleeping face - body and face covered in bandages, an IV drip connected to his right wrist - without catching a wink of sleep that night. It was over. His dearest sweetheart, Riku's suffering was finally over.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you when it all happened. I'm so.. fucking useless..."

Riku's uncle, Mr. Yagami had passed away in what you would call an unfortunate accident. His body was taken for post mortem by the hospital. The police came and went, mostly to investigate his death, questioned the ravenette who was undoubtedly still shell shocked from the incident and in the end reached a conclusion that it was an accidental death.

On the other hand, Riku had fallen unconscious back at the rooftop and still haven't woken up yet. But at least he was safe - no longer tortured and abused, physically and emotionally. The dark-haired was beyond relief when their seniors came rushing to their aid when they did, he wouldn't know what to do otherwise. With their help, Riku was immediately rushed to the doctors where they properly diagnosed him and treated his injuries and slight dehydration.

And Takeru thought that was the end of their problems, turned out he was wrong.

They had another unexpected problem.

And it concerned Tomoe; Riku's blood brother. His one and only family left.

He was...

* * *

 _"I'm afraid I have bad news for you. Mr. Yagami Tomoe is diagnosed with a stage three leukaemia." Dr. Kawamura revealed, and Riku instantly paled at the revelation. Kyousuke didn't look any better. Both of them were more than just taken aback._

 _"Wh-wha-what..? To..tomoe...? What.. did you...? He-" Riku could barely breathe now, let alone speak. The world began to spin, turning round and round and the blond had never felt as dizzy as he was at that moment. And he would've hit the ground head first if it weren't for the older male catching him just in time._

 _"Are you...alright..?" Kyousuke tightened his grip on Riku's shoulders, he was in a dazed state himself. Everything up until now felt like nothing but an absurd dream he wished he never had. Maybe he wasn't even asking Riku but himself._

 _"Se-senpai... I don't feel so good." Riku shakily breathed out, tears began flowing down his cheeks, unforced._

 _The kind doctor nodded in understanding when his eyes met the silverette's. "I'll leave the two of you for now. I'll come back again with the details later." He stepped away from the two grievous men, providing them some time to let the info sink in._

 _"Hey, Yagami... Hey, look at me." Kyousuke gently coaxed, though his voice firm and warm. And when Riku finally did, he continued, "Tomoe is stronger than this, okay? So, he'll make through this just fine, trust me." Then, the silverhead brought his arms around the trembling blond, giving him an encouraging squueze to the shoulder once in a while as they stood in each other's embrace in silence._

 _"I can't... I can't lose him. Not him too." Riku's voice wavered, he sounded so broken, so.._

 _..lost._

 _"He'll be alright, don't you worry..." Please, Tomoe. Don't leave your little brother alone. He needs you more than I do. Kyousuke closed his eyes and prayed, hoping that God will hear his prayer just this one time._

* * *

"It's hard to believe that Tomoe... that cheeky guy.. no way he'll go down like this." Heath buried his face in his hands, he was sitting on a plastic chair in one corner of the room, trying to sort it all out. First, he found out that their principal had been abusing his own nephew, their bubbly junior. And then, he was brought with more groundbreaking news that the older brother, his ex-teammate had been diagnosed with cancer in its later stage.

The brunette flinched when he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Kyousuke's. "Kyou... I-"

"Don't apologize. And I won't either." The silverette calmly said, reminiscences of their striding days together with Tomoe replayed inside his head like a projector. Those were fun times, times that Kyousuke wouldn't mind going back to again and again. He felt no regret however, not the slightest remorse of his actions if it meant saving their Stride Club, their pride.

Heath reacted by placing his hand on top of Kyousuke's and lightly squeezed it. "I'm here for you, partner. Through better or worst, we're all here for you." _And we'll always welcome you back to the club._ He left that part unsaid. Now's not the time.

Kyousuke's lips curved upwards. "Thanks, man."

Ayumu and Hozumi stood near the bedposts of Riku's and Tomoe's that were situated side by side. Hozumi hadn't once utter a word when they received the shocking news regarding Tomoe's health status. He wasn't as close to the raven haired prodigy strider as much as Heath or Kyousuke were but he looked up to the man as a fellow strider himself.

"Hey, Hozumi... Are you okay?" Ayumu softly asked when the light haired blond hugged him without a word. And Hozumi replied with just a weak shake of his head. He looked like a sad little kitten, it was heart-warming but heart-breaking at the same time. But Ayumu didn't like it when Hozumi feels sorrowful and vulnerable, Hozumi was not Hozumi without that angelic bright smile gracing his beautiful face.

The green-haired boy decided to pepper the top of Hozumi's head with kisses in which the other boy positively responded by snuggling closer to him. "...thanks, Ayumu."

"Don't be, silly."

* * *

Nana and Yujiro-sensei arrived later that evening as soon as Heath called to relay the news to them.

"How are Yagami-kun and his brother?" The modern Japanese teacher slash Honan Stride Club coach asked. Nana waited for the answer expectantly, she was on the verge of tears from worry and disbelief. They were normally living their lives, working on the play together just yesterday!

Kyousuke decided to share what the doctors had told him. "Yagami Riku sustained a few external injuries and also a broken rib but they're far from life-threatening. And Tomoe's currently sleeping. He's been... diagnosed with leukaemia."

"Oh my god..." Nana covered her mouth, gasping while their teacher closed his eyes and lowered his head. "That's very... unfortunate."

"B-but... It's not too late for treatment, right?" The female relationer timidly asked Kyousuke, her being unfamiliar with the silverette still.

"Yeah, a bone marrow transplant. I would be his donor if I could be Tomoe's tissue type and mine are different. We're incompatible for the transplant." Kyousuke further explained, feeling nothing but regret. Regret for not noticing Tomoe's illness earlier, regret for not having the same tissue type, regret for being such a lousy boyfriend - the regret was overpowering.

"Well, we can all go and do the matching test ourselves. Who knows someone in this room might shared the same type as Tomoe's?" Heath suggested and everyone else instantly agreed. Riku wasn't in a condition to become Tomoe's donor so they would take his place if they could.

"I'll do the bone marrow transplant." Takeru suddenly offered, and everyone else stared at him in a shocked silence. "Me and Tomoe-nii had the same tissue type after all." The raven played a bit with the blond's messy fringes, who was sound asleep from the meds.

"Takerun, are you sure..?"

"I took the test yesterday and they said I was a suitable match, Kohinata-senpai." Takeru explained, and he was honestly glad to have been a possible match for Tomoe. He wanted to be the donor after all.

"You know you don't have to do this, right?" Heath quietly added, his face frozen from any emotion.

"Of course, Hasekura-senpai."

Meanwhile, Nana and Ayumu said nothing but worry and anxiousness apparent on their serious faces.

Takeru then roamed his eyes at everyone in the room before giving his final saying, "I'll still do it."

He'd do anything, anything at all to keep Riku happy. And he certainly won't allow the wounded blond go through the transplant himself.

It's better this way.

Kyousuke seemed torn between guilt and gratification. "Thank you, Fujiwara. I can never express my gratitude well enough." The silverette sincerely bowed to the raven, a mixture of emotions welling inside of him that the man could just break down and start weeping like a child.

And Takeru smiled weakly as he shook his head. "Don't thank me, senpai. I'm just another one of those selfish jerks who do things for my own benefit." It's true. The thought of losing Riku scared him more than death itself.

"Making sacrifices for the ones dear to you is not selfish, Fujiwara-kun." Nana frowned, seemingly disagreeing with the raven's words. "Yagami-kun is your precious childhood friend, right?"

"And Tomoe-nii was like a brother to me." Takeru admitted. Being the only child of the family, he wouldn't be able to know what's it like to have a big brother if it weren't for Tomoe acting as one back when they were kids. Yeah, he was protective as hell when it comes to Riku, but that's just show how much he cared for his younger brother and Takeru really admired him for that.

" _Hankan Kuniku_ \- Make necessary sacrifices to achieve results." Yujiro-sensei finished off with a Japanese idiom and all of them bobbed their heads in agreement.

* * *

"The surgery is scheduled to be in two weeks time since we need to treat and condition Yagami-kun for the transplant first. Here are the form of consent and also an agreement form needed to be signed by your parents as you are still below 18." Dr. Kawamura produced the papers and patiently explained the necessary details and the surgical procedures properly to Takeru in accordance to the protocols.

Takeru couldn't be any more grateful to have such understanding parents when he asked them to drop by the hospital before explaining to them about the Yagamis' situation and how he decided to become Tomoe's bone marrow donor.

"We'll pray for your safety, son." Mr. Fujiwara said, arms around his weeping wife. "Takeru, dear... please, be safe."

"I will. Thank you, Mom, Dad. It means a lot to me." Takeru surprised them both by giving them a hug - he was never a touchy-feely guy to begin with. It showed how much he appreciated their willingness in letting him proceed with the surgery.

 _I'll save you, this time for sure, Riku._

* * *

"Ugh..." Riku stirred, feeling sore all over but strangely rejuvenated.

"Riku, you awake?" Someone asked him and the blond pried his eyes open in difficulty. The room was dimly lit and the smell of antiseptic infiltrated his nostrils once more. He was in a hospital room, the blond concluded.

"T-Takeru..?"

"Are you feeling okay?" The dark haired tucked some of Riku's loose hair strands behind his ears.

"Yeah. A bit sore though, but I'm fine." Riku smiled and brought Takeru's hand into his to reassure the little worrywart. "Don't worry about me, idiot." He sat up on the hospital bed and faced the raven haired properly.

Takeru immediately wrapped his arms around Riku. "I was so worried you wouldn't wake up again..."

"I... you saved my life, Takeru..." Riku hugged back, russet eyes prickling with incoming tears. "And you made me realised something."

"What is it?"

"Back then... when you're about to - the thought of losing you scared me than my own death. I..." The blond didn't know why but he felt embarrassed and self-conscious all of a sudden. Admitting this to the raven himself suddenly seemed so mortifying. But he needed him to know. "I... I need you." Riku buried his face against Takeru's chest, listening to his steady heartbeats. They calmed him down somehow.

"Then... do you hate it if I do this..?" Takeru pulled away from their embrace first and inched closer to Riku's cherry red lips before kissing him tender. And when Riku didn't budged, the raven boldly deepened their kiss, slipping his tongue inside.

"Wa-wait... we're at the hospital..." Riku breathed between their hot kisses, his face burning up, his heart accelerated fast. What struck him as weird was that he didn't hate Takeru's approaches at all, instead he wanted nothing but more. "Takeru..!"

"Don't worry, everyone's taking a rest in the waiting room at the moment. And Kuga-senpai's napping on the other chair." Takeru naughtily wiggled his eyebrows, lips smirking smugly.

"B-but, Kuga-senpai might wake up..!" Riku whispered angrily, careful not to wake their senior up.

"Then, don't make any noise. Simple as that." Takeru smooched the unprepared blond once more.

"..ah! Takeru... n-not in here..." Riku squeaked when he felt the raven's hand sneaking under his hospital robe.

"Ahem, I think you're forgetting someone else is in here."

A voice, annoyed but weak startled both Takeru and Riku so much that the blond automatically pushed the raven away and the poor boy fell off the bed with a thud.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry..!"

Takeru groaned, "Uh, I'm alright, don't worry..." He wasted no time in getting back on his feet and made his way to the other bed.

"You finally up, Tomoe-nii?" An irritated Takeru pulled the curtains separating Riku and his brother's beds open to reveal a wide-eyed Tomoe, lying on his bed with a gruff look.

"Heh, what were you thinking, attacking my precious brother when I'm still around?" Tomoe slowly sat up by the bedpost, wincing in pain as he tried to move his arm, connected with wires.

"Tomoe! You're awake!" Riku would've immediately rush to his brother's bed if it weren't for Takeru halting him.

"Woah, slow down. Your arm's connected to the drip, remember?" Takeru reminded before helping the blond out by hanging the IV bag onto a movable stand. "Easy now."

Riku carefully sat beside Tomoe on the bed, bringing his free hand to his brother's pale cheek. "You big dummy. Why didn't you say anything?" He looked way sicker than Riku had last seen him.

"Riku... c'mere." Tomoe pulled the younger boy so that the blond's head settled on his chest, his hand gently combing through the golden hair. "It wasn't easy for me... to tell you the truth. I'm sorry for worrying you."

"You should be... I was so sick with worry I thought my heart would stop..." Riku pouted and cuddled closer to Tomoe.

Takeru shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Call him childish but he still felt jealous seeing Riku sitting so close to Tomoe, even though they're brothers. "Uh, I'll go wait outside-"

"Wait, Take-chan." Tomoe gazed knowingly at the ravenette. "We need to talk."

"Can it not wait..?" Takeru wanted to avoid discussing about it in front of Riku if possible. He'd definitely throw a tantrum if he knew.

"Riku needs to know, you're aware of that, don't you?" Tomoe said, his tone serious.

Riku gulped on dry air, he had a bad feeling about the current situation at that instant. "What do I need to know?"

Tomoe turned his gaze towards his little brother. "That Take-chan agreed to be my bone marrow donor."

Both Takeru and Tomoe covered their ears beforehand.

"What?!"

 **To be continued...**

* * *

 **So I did a bit of research on leukaemia and bone marrow transplant. (Warning: this will be a long ass note so go ahead and skip it if you want ^.^) Apparently you need to have a matching tissue type with the patient in order to donate some of your bone marrow tissues.**

 **Also, the cancer patient's own stem cell must be destroyed first before replacing it with the donor's, which takes up to four days. Various tests need to be done and the patient needs to be conditioned first before proceeding with the transplant. About a litre of bone marrow is taken from the donor's hip bone.**

 **Afterwards, the patient will have to be hospitalized for some weeks to recover from the transplant and will also be given immunosuppressants to prevent the immune system destroying the new bone marrow cells.**

 **Then, the patient still needs to be monitored for a year or two for any infection or the cancerous cells recurring.**

 **And that's all~ Next chapter will be the last, finally! Thanks for reading, guys~ love ya lots :3**


	10. Chapter 10

**Special thanks to StarMaiden from AO3 for introducing and allowing me to use their OC, Norifumi Hajime to pair up with lonely Heath-kun! Let me know if you're interested in reading Hajime's complete bio which I will include as the character index in the next chapter. The story's already completed tho! :)**

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

"What do I need to know?"

The three of them exchanged looks, silence accompanied for a while. And at last, Tomoe was the one who broke it first.

"That Take-chan agreed to be my bone marrow donor."

" _What?!_ "

Riku angrily glared at Takeru after switching glances from his brother. "And you didn't bother informing me about this...at all!" He stared accusingly, crossing his arms while he's at it.

"Look here, Riku. I've been meaning to tell you but-" Takeru began but Riku immediately interrupted, "Enough! I don't need any excuses! Takeru, this concerns both Tomoe and you! Both of you are important to me!" Riku raised his voice, he was almost in tears as a mixture of negative emotions raged inside him, wanting to break free.

Takeru quickly pulled the blond into a tight hug, all the while whispering close to his ear. "And you're important to me." That silenced Riku for a second. "Please understand that... I'm not risking letting you doing the transplant in your current condition and we're definitely not risking losing Tomoe-nii, got that?" The raven tried his hardest to convince the known-for-his-stubbornness Riku and smiled when the other quietly nodded. "I... understand... But, Takeru... Why you? You don't have to do this..."

"Everyone keeps telling me that." Takeru grumbled. "But, guess what? I'm still doing it." He grinned positively, ruffling Riku's hair until they became messy and some stood on ends.

Meanwhile, Tomoe, who was watching the little drama between his little brother and the raven, agitatedly pulled them apart, sticking his tongue out like a child to Takeru. "I said - stay away from my lil' bro', Take-chan."

"Yeah, yeah." Takeru sighed at Tomoe's childish antics whilst Riku giggled instantly. His overprotective brother versus his caring plus too kind boyfriend (?). It'd probably be a sight to see.

"Tomoe, you're awake!" Heath appeared from the door, followed by Ayumu and Hozumi. "Yagami-oniisan/Tomo-kun!"

"Guys! You're also here?" Tomoe's eyes glowed happily as he hugged back the two happy-go-lucky boys, nostalgia and a tiny bit of melancholia mixed together. He's been asleep for far too long to actually notice his other stride friends had also came to see him. "Wait, where's Kyou-" Tomoe looked around, trying to find the silverette's presence.

"...I'm right here..." Kyousuke suddenly spoke up from a plastic chair not far from him, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "How are you feeling, Tomoe?"

"I feel fine, Kyou. Don't worry." Tomoe flashed a reassuring smile and laughed lightly, his hand slipped into Kyou's, who came beside his bed. Kyousuke sighed in relief, and his lips curved upwards a little. "That's good to hear." He missed his jovial little lover so very much after almost three days not hearing his voice and that beautiful laugh.

"Ahem!" Heath was the one to voice out first before Tomoe and Kyousuke got the chance to be lost in their own world. "We're still here, y'know?"

"I think it's best we leave both Tomo-kun and Rikkun to rest for the night." Suggested Hozumi and everyone nodded in agreement.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Riku. But, I'll be in the waiting room if you ever need me, alright?" Takeru gently told the lethargic Riku, still drowsy from the meds. Riku shyly nodded. "Okay...thanks."

* * *

"How's Rikkun?" Hozumi, who just arrived at the hospital, asked Kyousuke in a hushed tone, careful not to wake the blond up. They were currently outside of the operating room, anxiously waiting for both Tomoe and Takeru.

Riku had fallen asleep beside the silver-haired man, his head leaning onto Kyousuke's right shoulder and his hand clutching Kyousuke's shirt tightly. "He's sleeping. After not catching even a wink of sleep last night." Kyousuke explained, tucking some of Riku's loose strands behind his ear. He must've felt so afraid right now, having to lost both of his parents and currently waiting for his older brother, possibly losing him. Kyousuke would do his best to take care of Riku until Takeru and Tomoe wake up again.

"I see.. And what about you, Kyou-kun? How are you holding up today?" Hozumi took a seat beside the silverette, a warm smile took form on his lips.

"I'm alright, thanks." Kyousuke replied, although fatigue and weariness prominent in his light-colored eyes. "By the way, Kadowaki isn't with you today?"

"Ah, Ayumu had extra class today. His mom almost strangled him when she found out he skipped it yesterday." A small laugh erupted from the petite blond as he recalled Ayumu frantically calling him as he was beaten half to death by his own mother, telling his supposedly 'last words' to Hozumi.

 _"I just want you to know that...! I love you, Hozumi! I really don't want to leave you just yet, we have so many things left to do - Like, going on a date, getting married and heck yeah have kids together!"_

'Silly boy..' Hozumi thought to himself, without realising he was grinning from ear to ear.

"You seemed...happy." Kyousuke said out of the blue. And instead of jealousy, Hozumi detected sincerity and genuine happiness from the silverette. Almost like a father seeing his daughter off with another man kind of feeling. Playfully poking Kyousuke's cheek, the ever so cheerful Hozumi replied, "And so will you, once Tomo-kun walks out of this place, with an equally happy smile on his face."

"Thank you, Kohinata." Kyousuke chuckled. "And don't stab me with your finger."

"Hey, now~" The shorter teen pouted. "I'm not sure why... But I think everything will be just fine, Kyou-kun." Hozumi pulled his finger away before curving his lips upwards once more, his face never once lacking smiles.

Witnessing Hozumi's radiant positivity with his own eyes, Kyousuke couldn't help but smile as well. "I believe so too."

* * *

"Ow... it hurts like hell, Rikuuuu..." Takeru, lying on the bed right after the transplant, whined like a child. Tomoe, on the other hand, was sleeping soundly in another room with Kyousuke loyally waiting by his side.

"You idiot... How could you be whining so easily..." Riku quickly hid his face in Takeru's chest, he was close to tears from relief that both his most important people survived the surgery albeit knowing it wasn't a risky one to begin with. "I... I can't thank you enough..."

"Silly. I didn't do this just to hear your thanks." Takeru gently patted Riku's head and ran his fingers through the fluffy yellow hair. _Don't cry now, princess._

"B-but still! If there's anything I could do for you..." Riku pressed his cheeks against the ravenette's firm chest, his heartbeats were strong and steady.

Takeru sighed while smiling wide. "I do... have one thing I always want from you though..."

"What is it..?"

"Riku, would you be mine?"

Rustic eyes popped open in shock. "E-eh? Why so suddenly..."

"Would you?" Takeru remained unmoved with his question.

"When you said 'be mine', you don't mean... _that_?" Riku hesitantly asked once more, in order to reconfirm Takeru's words.

"Yeah. That."

 ** _Ba-dump! Ba-dump!_**

His heart palpitating, his stomach churning, his breaths hitching. And what was bubbling from his very core was unexpectedly excitement. Riku wouldn't admit this so easily to the raven himself but he really did want it as well. How far did he actually had fallen for the man without even realising?

"O..okay."

"What?" Takeru jolted upwards. "What did you just say?"

"I said - okay! But, only after you're discharged and completely recovered, you dimwitted leg fetishist!" Riku blurted out in order to hide his embarrassment.

"Promise...?" Takeru, however, seemed unaffected by the childish insult he'd thrown.

Riku gazed deeply into Takeru's sapphire blue eyes before slowly nodding. "Promise."

* * *

"Yo."

Kyousuke looked up to find Heath, alone with a small duffel bag by his waist. "Hey, man." He altered his gaze back to the sleeping Tomoe, a soft sigh released from his mouth at the peaceful expression shown.

"Where's Yagami?" Light brown eyes wandered around the spacious room in search of the first year blondie. "Uh, the lil' bro."

"You just missed him. He went back with Fujiwara just now to get some rest." Kyousuke patiently explained to his ex-captain. "What's that?" He eyed the bag curiously before inviting the brunette to take a seat.

Sighing, Heath sat next to the silverette and eventually handed the bag to the perplexed man. "I brought you and initially Riku some change of clothes for tonight. Also, some toiletries and other stuff that might be useful."

The bag exchanged hands and Kyousuke unzipped the bag to find some spare clothes, towels, two toothbrushes along with a toothpaste and also... a very erotic-looking magazine. For gay men.

"Even a porn mag? Really now, Heath?" The silver-haired man gave a weird look to his friend. He didn't knew his friend was into that kind of thing.

"What, you might need that. When's the last time you jerk off? And don't lie to me." Heath said so seriously that Kyousuke failed to see whether he was joking or not. Then, Heath suddenly burst into laughter, further surprising Kyousuke. "Nah, I'm just joking. My sister was the one who helped me with the packing just now. You know she could be a bit... _eccentric_." Even that was an understatement. As the little brother, he should know best, Heath regarded.

Kyousuke nodded in understanding, plastering a mirth smile. "Diane-san, was it?" A strong fierce woman with mid-long curly brown hair and green eyes came into mind. Heath was always complaining about two of his control-freak sisters, both working in the modelling industry. He still remembered getting pulled in along with the other stride members to be models in Diane's company photo-shooting. Those were the days. Fun, nonchalant days he wished weren't gone...

"Y'know... Things just weren't the same ever since you and Tomoe left..." Heath quietly told his friend, a dear ex-member of their club.

"Heath..."

"I'll get you something to drink." Heath offered after a while and before Kyousuke could decline, he was already up and gone.

"That guy... always pushes himself so hard." Kyousuke said to particularly no one, staring off at the brunette's retreating figure.

He'd rejoin the team. Soon after Tomoe was up and well again. Kyousuke at least made up his mind that much.

* * *

"Let's see.. Kyou likes iced coffee, if I remembered it correctly..." Heath inserted a few coins into the coin slot, his finger was just about to push the button when another hand suddenly shot from behind him and quickly chose another drink instead.

"Excuse me?!" Heath snapped, angrily whipping his head towards the mysterious person, only to gape widely instead. The person was...

"Ha..Hajime-san?"

 _OH NO._

A taller bespectacled man with slick mid-length black hair tied into a neat short ponytail and bloody red eyes greeted the flabbergasted brunette. "Hello, Heath-kun. Fancy meeting you here."

"Wh-what are you doing here?" Heath slowly backed away. The man in front of him was Hajime. Norifumi Hajime, a university student majoring in veterinary slash the son of a florist slash his childhood friend which became his personal tutor. Or in other words, his least favorite person on Earth.

"I'm visiting an old friend of mine." Hajime chuckled at Heath's reaction, in which he found oddly adorable somehow. Everything about Heath was adorable in his eyes, truth be told. "And these are...for you." The older man magically produced a bouquet of red roses out of nowhere and handed them to Heath.

"How did you even do that..?" Heath questioned, he was always taken by surprise by Hajime's flower tricks. Every single time. Almost as if the black-haired man knew where he was and purposely bumped into him just to annoy the hell out of him. Heath didn't exactly knew why he dislike Hajime who was an excellent example of a perfect human being, gifted in both looks and academics and not forgetting, sports since the man got himself a black belt in judo, karate and even aikido. He was also very well-mannered and much loved by others.

But, what struck him as weird was the way Hajime treated him, contrast to other people. Hajime was always getting on his nerves for no reason at all, speaking in riddles, purposely making him mad... What did the man really want with him?

"Are you okay? And may I ask, do you have some kind of business here?" Hajime looked directly into Heath's eyes and the brunette felt his face suddenly grew warmer, having to be caught staring. "I'm...also visiting a friend. He's very dear to me." Heath stressed the 'dear' part on purpose, noticing a change in Hajime's expression instantly. There it was again... That look Hajime made whenever Heath mentioned other guys besides him.

Was he, by any chance, _jealous_?

Wait - that wouldn't make much sense at all... Maybe he's getting ahead of himself again. Weren't the two of them males to begin with? Heath wasn't too well-informed with Hajime's sexual preferences but he, for once, was- _IS_ normal.

"Oh, really? Who is it, someone from the Stride Club?"

"Yeah, what of it?" Heath seemed to avoid directly answering Hajime's question as he bent down to take the canned drink from the vending machine. Jasmine green tea. His favorite. It was just like Hajime to remember insignificant things such as this.

"Nothing..." Hajime slowly rubbed his chin, seemingly occupied with his own thoughts. "Anyways, my mock exams will be ending soon so I'll be tutoring you as usual starting next week."

"Huh, is that so..." Heath mildly responded. He hated studying more than life itself. After receiving his marks from the previous mid-term exams, his older sister decidedly appointed Hajime to be his tutor although the brunette himself wanted nothing to do with the man more than he had if possible.

"You don't sound excited somehow. Don't you miss me?" Hajime purposely made a sad face and Heath swore he ought to punch him in the face.

"In your dreams, nerd."

"Ouch. Harsh."

"What's with you? Do you enjoy making me mad that much?" Heath angrily demanded, almost crushing the canned drink in his hand. Some of the hospital staffs glanced weirdly at their direction. Hajime brought his index finger to his closed smiling lips, the universal sign for 'be quiet'.

"No... But, as a matter of fact, yes..?" Came the ambiguous reply afterwards.

"Which one is it?!" Barked the hot-blooded brunette, his patience wearing thinner and thinner.

"You're as slow as ever..." Hajime simpered. "But, that's what makes you so adorable, I guess."

"I hate you." Heath turned his body from Hajime, ready to walk away from the ever so mischievous ruby-eyed man.

"No, you don't~ And I'll see you this Saturday, little kitty. To teach you something new..."

Heath's heart suddenly skipped a beat. Was he actually anticipating Hajime's lessons..? Or more like the dark-haired man himself..?

"Hell, no..." Heath whispered, angry but also a little confused in the inside.

* * *

 _Three months later: Takeru's apartment..._

"Are you relieved now that Tomoe-nii's recovering steadily?" Takeru disappeared into the kitchen only to reappear with two mugs of coffee.

"You have no idea..." Riku let out a long sigh before taking the hot drink into his hand. "Thanks."

Now, everything would truly be alright again. Tomoe's well now although recovering still, Takeru's right here by his side and his uncle would no longer be there to hurt him...

All that's left was...

...keeping his promise with Takeru.

.

.

.

"Can I have my reward now?" Takeru seductively whispered as he successfully pushed the blond down on the bed. "Spread your legs, Riku..."

"Wait...! Are you sure you're feeling better already?"

"You bet I do."

"I-idiot! What d'you think you're-" Riku unconsciously moaned when the raven-headed reached under his boxers, stroking the tip of his cock which was already overflowing with precum. "You're this wet just from the kisses? Naughty, naughty~"

"Sh-shut up..ngh!" And Riku quickly unzipped Takeru's slacks before reaching underneath his briefs, securing his hold on the half hard cock, "Look, you're hard as well..!" As he began stroking it, Takeru immediately bit his lip to suppress a whimper, shuddering slightly. "You're feeling it too, right..?" That came out just a little above a whisper and Takeru held back the urge to come.

Reaching for the bottle of lube he prepared earlier, Takeru poured the cool liquid directly onto Riku's butthole and some to wetten his fingers.

"Cold!" Riku jerked upwards from the sudden sensation, much to Takeru's amusement.

"Well, I do need to prepare you properly... You don't want it to hurt, do you?"

"...dammit.. Wipe that smug face of yours..hhn?!" Riku jolted again, this time due to Takeru's sudden finger inserting into his lubricated entrance. "Ah!? Wait a sec-!"

It must had been more than thirty minutes or so since they've been going at it.

"It's gotten softer and wider now... Do you hear the lewd sounds it's making?" Takeru slyly posed the question while still expertly fingering Riku's anal.

"Y-you... where did you learn to do this..? Uhh!"

"..."

"D-don't tell me... you've done this before with someone else...!"

"Don't be silly... I only have eyes for you and you alone." Takeru reassured shortly after, probing his fingers deeper inside Riku.

"J-jerk! Uhhn- you're gonna break me-!" Riku weakly struggled to break free from the ravenette. The heat was overpowering, sweltering. Small whimpers could be heard from the red-faced blond, he was unused to such intensity. "S-slow down... a bit... Takeru..." He whispered hotly, but a bit too invitingly arousing in Takeru's opinion.

"Can I enter you now..?"

"Eh?"

Takeru pressed the tip of his member to Riku's stretched butthole.

"EEEH?! There's no way something that big would-"

"I'm sorry, Riku." Takeru let out another groan, directly to Riku's sensitive ear. "I don't think I can hold myself back after all." And with that said, he thrusted into the blond, in just one go.

"-fit~~"

Riku's whole body shook from the unfamiliar sensation, that was too electrifying yet oddly his body welcomed it enough. "Aahh! N-not too...fast..!" He whined, but held the ravenette closer so that their bodies pitted against another like they were glued together.

"Ri...ku..!"

"A-ah..! So...hot." Tears mixed with sweat and saliva as Takeru began pumping hard into Riku, each thrust wet and filling.

"Takeru!" Riku cried out, desperately and wantonly like an animal in heat. "Takeru..aah!"

The way Riku frantically calling his name with that lusty look in his eyes encouraged Takeru to ram in further and harder until the hilt. He wanted to treat the blond as gentle as he could but looking again at the very erotic expression Riku was showing and listening to his sexy voice over and over had all of his reasons flying out of the window. He couldn't.

"Uwah! T-too rough!" Riku screamed, delirious and high from immense pleasure. "Not there~!"

"...right here..?" Takeru repositioned himself so that Riku was laying on his back, and started to thrust in deeper and deeper until his whole cock was inside Riku.

"S-stop! I'm gonna cum..! I'm... I'm cumming..!" Riku exclaimed loudly, otherwise slim legs wrapping around the raven tightly. "P-please, no~!"

"Your actions don't match your words, naughty little Riku..." A breathy chuckle escaped from the ravenette. "It's not a 'no' but a 'yes', am I right?"

"Unnhn! That's not it- ah! cum..miiing..! Nyou..! Shtop-" Words began to fail the blond. Rustic eyes accumulated tears of sheer pleasure and pure ecstasy.

Takeru trailed his tongue from Riku's collarbone to his pink, erected nipples and began to diligently suck on them, one hand massaging them with such high intensity. "Shh... not yet. Just a bit more..!" The ravenette then brought Riku's rock hard penis into his hand, gripping it tight to prevent the blond from coming first.

"You... You're a..uh..beast..!"

The squelching and squishing sounds made from Takeru's hard thrustings almost drove Riku up the walls. It was hot. Passionately so. It was all too good. Ecstatic. Riku's little pants and gasps resounded throughout the room, along with naughty erotic noises and the blond could only shiver uncontrollably underneath Takeru and his overheated touches. Takeru's erection was growing bigger and harder the more he shoved it in and Riku could feel his insides tightening around the ravenette, clenching and relaxing alternatingly.

"Ta..ke..ru..! I wanna cum...please..!" Riku implored, unconsciously moving his own hips to match Takeru's thrusts. He was close now. He'd explode. His head felt so light and fluffy, he could barely think of anything else other than wanting to come real bad. "Takeruuu... please..."

"Okay... let's come together..." Takeru heaved another shaky sigh when Riku started clamping around him tightly, his hand continuously stroking the pulsating cock, ready to spurt juice at any moment.

"Yes! Haa...hurry...!" Riku desperately clung onto the ravenette and in his impatience, started leaving kiss marks all over Takeru's upper torso.

"Ready..?"

One last thrust and both of them reached climax together, their bodies arched backwards from the sensual overstimulation, moans erupted, desperate and loud.

"Aaahhn!"

.

.

.

"Sorry... I came inside you." Takeru, through heavy pants and half-lidded eyes apologised as he slowly pulled out from the trembling blond, white semen immediately flowed out of the throbbing hole.

"D-dumbass... don't apologise." Riku reached for the raven first and kissed him tenderly, nipping his lower lip afterwards. "It felt good so...wanna go for round two?"

"Who's the _real_ beast here..?" Takeru asked rhetorically before peppering Riku with his moist kisses again. "I'll help you clean yourself afterwards..."

"H..huh?"

"Cuz I don't think you can even walk after this." A very dangerous smile stretched across Takeru's darkened face and Riku's danger alert switch seemed to be flipped on real hard.

 _UH OH._

"I.. I think we should stop here - gyaah!"

* * *

 _One year later..._

"Takeru, hurry up! We'll be late for Tomoe's discharge party!" Riku yelled from the front door, urging the ravenette who was still in the room to get his ass out of there asap.

"Okay, okay~ My, our Riku sure has no patience at all, does he?" Takeru emerged from his apartment entrance, in a faded blue long-sleeved shirt and fitted black slacks. He was also wearing his glasses this time. One look at him sent another wave of butterflies in Riku's tummy. The blond was becoming more and more conscious of the raven-haired teen now that they started living together and yes - they were currently seeing each other, even Riku himself couldn't believe it.

Fujiwara Takeru, his childhood friend and classmate, was now his boyfriend, his most precious someone. Well, although Tomoe still shared a tight spot with Takeru in terms of priority in all honesty.

Takeru walked up to the dazed blond and boldly smooched him on the lips. "...!? Wait- Takeru, we're outside right now!" Riku lightly pushed the obstinate ravenette away, his burning face took a darker shade of red color in just seconds.

"As long as I have you, I don't care what other people think~" Replied Takeru whilst naughtily licking his upper lip, with a mischievous plan in mind. "We'll continue this after the party, okay, princess?"

"Drop the 'princess' already!" Riku said with a frown and an oh-so-obvious pout. He hated himself for actually liking it when Takeru nicknamed him that. Love was truly a mysterious thing, wasn't it?

"I love you, Riku... so, so much." Takeru said out of the blue, causing the blond to blush on the cheeks once more.

"Ahhh, you're so shameless!" Riku responded, his voice a pitch higher than usual to hide his embarrassment. "M-me too... I love you too, Takeru..." The blushing blond said after a while, his hand slowly slipped into Takeru's own big, warm hand.

"So, let's go?" Royal blue eyes met rustic ones.

"Uh-huh. Let's."

"Heyyyy! Rikkun! Takerun!" From the distance, the both of them caught sight of their kind-hearted seniors, Hozumi and Ayumu, waving excitedly.

"Wha- Kohinata-senpai and Kadowaki-senpai? What're you doing here?" The overjoyed Riku rushed to the other blond and his partner, pulling Takeru along with him in his excitement.

"You guys sure took your time so we decided to drop by and personally pick you up!" Nana, also flocking around like an excited child, replied instead in an equally cheerful tone.

"Ah, Sakurai-san's here too!" Riku bowed apologetically for his late realisation.

From behind the two second years and the relationer, Riku saw all of his team members from Stride Club including his big brother and a person he didn't recognise. "Wait- everyone's here!"

"Well, why do you think that is?" Kyousuke was the one to speak up this time, redirecting his gaze towards his pouty lover next to him.

"Dammit, Takeru! Tell me you did not lay a finger on Riku while I was gone!" Tomoe swiftly pulled Riku into his arms and glomped at him tightly, not forgetting to execute a death glare to the other ravenette.

"Isn't it a little too late for that, Tomoe-nii?" Takeru simply smirked, wide and smug. "Congrats on getting released by the way~"

"I'll freaking kill you later, you cherry popping devil..!" Tomoe snarled at Takeru like an angered beast but was stopped in time by his little brother. "Behave, Tomoe. You're still recovering, remember?" Riku reprimanded, a slight frown evident on his forehead.

"..tsk! Okay, Riku-chan... Only cuz you said so." Tomoe nodded obediently.

"Haha, it's hard to tell who's actually the older brother looking at you two!" Heath chuckled lightly before turning his head towards his childhood friend, gone was any trace of smile on his face shortly after. "And what the hell are you doing, tagging along with me, shameless bastard?!"

Hajime made an innocent face, much to Heath's irk. "Arara~ Why are you so mad again? I'm here to guard you from the dangerous wolves lurking around here of course."

"The only wolf I see here is none other than you, sneaky old man!" Heath exploded while Hajime heartily laughed at the brunette's reaction.

All of them joined in the laughter together as they began walking back to Tomoe's place for the party.

His friends. His teammates. His older brother. And his boyfriend. Everyone was there for him. And they were laughing, smiling, having fun together. Thanks to Takeru, everything seemed to turn out fine, just as he promised.

 _'If it's you and me... we'll get through every obstacle in life, come hell or high water...'_ Riku chose to believe that. And he had a feeling he would be right, after all...

 ** _~The end~_**

* * *

 **A/N: Annnnnd... it's done! I'm finally done with the last chapter, whew~ My very first completed multichaptered story... I feel quite accomplished tbh.. Thank you so much, dear readers and followers for following this fic from A to Z, and for sharing your beautiful wonderful thoughts with me, you guys rock! :D**

 **P.S. The sex scene was sucky af I know lol~ please forgive the inexperienced me~ *grovels***

 **See you another day, another time~ ;)**


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